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| Wednesday, July 15, 2009 |
| Super Healthy “Salade Nicoise” |
It’s summer time and that means bountiful produce. Farmer’s markets and even grocery stores have mounds of colorful fruits and vegetables. I loved this time of year growing up when we lived on mostly fresh produce instead of our favorite meat or pasta dishes. For me summer means packing as much nutrition into one healthy plate as possible. Since I grew up with a large vegetable garden, a Salade Nicoise was the perfect and freshest dinner we could have. I call it “super healthy” because we used to add fresh cooked beets which increase its antioxidant power. The original recipe has changed over the years and like a Bouillabaise, it varies depending on the region and what is fresh and available at the time. This salad is loaded with complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and colorful antioxidants. Feel free to add your favorite healthy foods, herbs and seasonings to make it your own.
Salade Nicoise
Serves 4
2-3 cups Seasonal greens (Romaine, Boston, curly, mixed green or spinach)
2 medium Potatoes, cooked
2 medium Beets, cooked
2 large Tomatoes
4 Hard boiled eggs
1 lb Green beans, trimmed and boiled
12 Black olives (preferably Nicoises)
1 lb Fresh tuna steaks or a 6 oz can of good quality tuna packed in olive oil
Josée’s Famous French Vinaigrette
½ cup Olive or canola oil
3-4 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
Salt & pepper to taste
Put all vinaigrette ingredients in a sealed container and shake until homogenized. Taste, adjust seasoning and set aside.
Wash and trim all vegetables. Boil, steam or microwave potatoes, beets and green beans (separately) until favorite degree of doneness or use leftovers.
Season tuna steaks with salt and pepper and grill or pan fry using a little oil for 1-2 minutes on each side. Cooking time for the tuna is really personal depending on desired degree of doneness (many people prefer to have it “rare” in the middle). Make sure you are using super fresh sushi grade tuna. You can also use a good quality tuna canned in olive oil instead or even some smoked white fish or mackerel or cooked or canned wild salmon to boost the omega-3 content.
Layer salad greens on a large serving plate. Slice beets, potatoes, tomatoes and eggs into wedges and place on top of the greens in four opposing angles. Place bundles of cooked green beans in between the other vegetables (vegetables should be arranged like numbers on a clock). Layer the fish on top and sprinkle olives over salad. Shake the vinaigrette container and drizzle some over the salad. Serve the rest on the side.
- Josée
Here are a couple of articles discussing certain benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
Science Daily: Fruit and Vegetable Intake In Pregnant Women Reduces Risk Of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection
Nutrition Horizon: How High Carbohydrate Foods Can Increase Heart Problems
I think you may also enjoy reading this great document called Eating Green produced by the wonderful people at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). They are always a great source of information.
Labels: Healthy Cooking, healthy eating, Healthy Recipes, Josee
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posted by My Sensei @ Wednesday, July 15, 2009   |
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| 4 Comments: |
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I am not great at making recipes BUT I love reading about them & I do try some.... the easy ones! :-)
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Thanks for sharing, great recipes!
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I've never ever tried salad nicoise...it does look so healthy! I wonder if it'll sort of taste like tuna salad?
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Actually, it does not taste much like the typical tuna salad as there is no mayonnaise. But, the best kept secret is Italian canned tuna packed in olive oil. Once you eat it, you will never want to eat water packed tuna again, I promise you. It can be a good substitute for fresh tuna and you get some good monounsaturated fats too. And if you use it in a typical tuna salad you will hardly need mayonnaise. A quick salad to make with the good canned tuna is to mix it with canned beans like cannellini or chick peas, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, maybe some fresh parsley, basil, garlic and a little splash of red wine vinegar. It is so good and so healthy you don’t even need to add more olive oil. But as for the salade Nicoise, the nice thing is that you can add other vegetables or change the fish depending on seasonal and regional availability. Often French restaurants will use fresh anchovies or even grilled sardines. So, play with it and find the food combination that works for you.
- Josee
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I am not great at making recipes BUT I love reading about them & I do try some.... the easy ones! :-)