Salade Nicoise great meal for family

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Apr 30, 2008 by Jeanne Jones

I have always loved Salade Nicoise, the French approach to tuna salad. With warmer days ahead, this is a great light meal for any time of the day. This recipe is my favorite presentation of this classic salad. It also is the tastiest and the prettiest version for entertaining, or just for creating a colorful summer meal for the family.

I like to serve this salad with all the ingredients at room temperature and topped with warm tuna, right off the grill. However, in really warm weather I make it with drained albacore white tuna from the package.

SALADE NICOISE

Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons capers, drained

Salad:

1/2 pound fresh tuna, cut into 1-inch chunks, or 1 package (7.06 ounces) water-packed albacore white tuna, drained

8 small new potatoes, unpeeled, cooked and sliced

8 red peppers, roasted, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips

1/2 pound small green beans, cooked

1/2 large red onion, very thinly sliced

4 small tomatoes, cut into wedges

4 hard-cooked eggs, whites only, quartered

4 large sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme for garnish, optional

1. For vinaigrette, combine vinegar and salt, and mix until salt is dissolved. Add all the other vinaigrette ingredients and mix well. (If possible, make the day before serving.)

2. For salad, marinate the raw tuna or drained packaged tuna for 1 hour in 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. If using raw tuna, grill until medium-rare.

3. Arrange all of the salad ingredients, side by side, in an attractive manner on a large white platter; do not toss. Just before serving, pour the vinaigrette over the salad and garnish with sprigs of rosemary or thyme, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains approximately: 341 calories; 15 gm fat; 22 mg cholesterol; 596 mg sodium; 33 gm carbohydrates; 20 gm protein; 8 gm fiber.

Jeanne Jones is the author of 33 cookbooks, most recently "Cooking From the Cupboard" (Rodale Press). For more information, you can go to her Web site, jeannejones.com. Send your recipe for revision to: Cook It Light, Deseret News, P.O. Box 1212, La Jolla, CA 92038. Please include a stamped (63 cents), self-addressed envelope. [copyright] King Features Syndicate Inc.