09 Jul Nicoise Salad Recipe
Low Carb Nicoise Salad
Being summer in the Northern Hemisphere, my hubby and I love eating salads for lunch on the weekends. My husband tries not to eat too many carbohydrates, so every week I try to come up with a new salad combination to please the two of us. Saturday is the only day of the week that we can have lunch together and we like to make it a special one.
A couple of weeks ago he asked me for a Nicoise salad. Well, he called it “the salad with tuna and eggs that you made some time ago” 🙂 I immediately understood which one he was referring to. This time he challenged me to substitute the potatoes for a low carb option. I love a challenge! Since he likes beans, the choice for me was very easy. And that’s how this salad was created!
If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, where we lived before moving to the Bay Area, this salad can also be a great warm salad for any lunch. For this, keep the green beans and eggs warm and make sure all other ingredients are at room temperature when you put the salad together. In addition, use fresh tuna and cook it as I indicate bellow (*).
I feel really privileged to share this recipe with you now that we have eaten it a couple of times. I really hope you like it and becomes a regular dish on your weekly menus.
Ingredients for 4 people
For the Salad
1 x 400gr / 11 oz tin / can of butter beans (check for BPA free lining)
1 x 113gr / 4oz tin / can of tuna in olive oil (wild caught)
2 soft boiled eggs, cut into 6 wedges each
2 Handfuls of green beans
2 good handfuls of mixed salad leaves
12 cherrie or mini plum tomatoes cut in half
12 kalamata or black olives
1 teaspoon dry thyme
Dressing
1 anchovy fillet (in olive oil)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 whole black peppercorns
Juice 1/2 lemon (1 Tablespoon)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Oil from tuna tin / can
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- Put a pot with salted water to boil
- Prepare the green beans by trimming the ends
- Prepare a bowl with cold water and ice cubes (ice bath)
- Blanch green beans in the boiling water for 2 MINUTES ONLY; strain and put them in the ice bath. This will stop the green beans from keep cooking and will give them a brighter green color.
- Rinse butter beans under running cold water
- Drain the tuna and keep the olive oil to use for the dressing
- Cut green beans in half
- To make the dressing
- In a mortar and pestle mash the anchovy fillet with salt and peppercorns until it forms a paste
- Add the lemon juice, oil from tuna, olive oil and dijon mustard and mix until well combined
- Taste with a salad leave and adjust the seasoning to your liking
- To plate
- place salad leaves on the bottom of serving platter or large salad bowl
- Cover leaves with butter beans
- Add green beans and tomatoes
- scatter tuna over the whole salad
- place egg wedges and kalamata olives (use the photo as a reference)
- Sprinkle with thyme
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and …
- ENJOY!
I find this low carb version easier to digest than the original one with potatoes.
(*) Use fresh ahi tuna instead of tinned / canned. I made it this way last time and it was delicious! Cook the tuna on a skillet over high heat for 1 minute each side and let it rest before cutting into strips.
Make it a jarred salad by placing ingredientes in this order: dressing, tuna, butter beans, olives, green beans, eggs, tomatoes and salad leaves. When it is time to eat it, flip the jar upside down to cover the salad with the dressing. Yum it!
Write your comments and / or question and I will be very happy to answer you.
Please share your photos in social media and tag me.
Eat well and be happy!
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