Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
It’s so nice to have a big salad, with dressing on the side, in the fridge. Add some seared tuna, grilled chicken, or tofu, and you have a late summer evening’s meal. Next on my list: peach caprese; beet salad with spicy yogurt and watercress; farro with spring vegetables; and a steak salad with pear and pickled fennel. Then, on to the dressings—poppy seed and then creamy roasted garlic. First, try this salad, using smoked salmon instead of tuna.
Recipe excerpted with permission from The Complete Salad Book by America’s Test Kitchen
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Smoked Salmon Niçoise Salad
Why This Recipe Works
French salade niçoise is an incredibly satisfying salad, with its mix of vegetables, hard-cooked eggs, olives, and canned tuna—but it could use an update. Swapping out the tuna for flavor-packed smoked salmon and pairing the more robust fish with a creamy dressing rather than the usual vinaigrette were tasteful twists on the classic. Since they're dabbed with flavorful dressing, the potatoes and green beans needed nothing more than a boil in salted water. Starting the potatoes first and adding the green beans later ensured that both vegetables finished cooking at the same time and that the green beans remained bright and vibrant. A three-ingredient (plus salt and pepper) dressing of sour cream, lemon, and dill was a fitting pairing for smoked salmon and brought this new niçoise together; we tossed a small amount with the greens to ensure even distribution and then served the rest for drizzling on top of the other components. Use red potatoes measuring 1 to 2 inches in diameter. If you don't have a steamer basket, use a spoon or tongs to gently place the eggs directly in the boiling water.
Serves 4
• 4 large eggs
• 1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled, halved
• ¼ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking potatoes and green beans
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
• ⅔ cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• 10 ounces (10 cups) mesclun
• ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 8 ounces sliced cold-smoked salmon
1. Bring 1 inch water to rolling boil in large saucepan over high heat. Place eggs in steamer basket and transfer to saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook eggs for 13 minutes.
2. When eggs are almost finished cooking, fill large bowl halfway with ice and water. Using tongs or slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice bath and let sit for 15 minutes. Peel and halve cooled hard-cooked eggs.
3. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in now-empty saucepan. Add potatoes and 1½ tablespoons salt, return to boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Add green beans and continue to cook until both vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Drain vegetables well and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Whisk sour cream, lemon juice, water, dill, salt, and pepper in large bowl until incorporated; set aside all but ¼ cup dressing. Add mesclun to ¼ cup dressing in bowl and toss to coat, then divide mesclun among individual serving dishes. Top with potatoes, green beans, eggs, olives, and salmon and drizzle with reserved dressing. Serve.
Tracey Zabar's Chocolate Chip Sweets: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes is available here.
A delectable collection of innovative chocolate chip recipes by world-renowned chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers
Tracey Zabar's One Sweet Cookie Cookbook is available here.
A delicious collection of cookie recipes from extraordinary chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers. A great gift sure to delight anyone who loves to bake.
