Salmon Niçoise Salad

It isn’t always easy to get fresh produce into our diets.  I get it…some of us have kids (or husbands, not that I’m naming names) who only like certain fruits and veggies and refuse don’t like to try new things.  Short of force-feeding, what’s a veggie-loving girl to do?

Sometimes you have to get inventive.  One surefire way I’ve found to get veggies into the most stubborn veggie-averse eaters is to take a classic favorite and tweak it just a little.  Not too much, because then it automatically gets put in the “I’ve never had that/I don’t like that/I don’t think I’ll like that” category.  Just change it enough to keep the recipe fresh and exciting.

Like using salmon instead of tuna in a lovely Niçoise Salad.  :)

What inventive ideas do you have for fresh eating?

Salmon Niçoise Salad

Serves 2

Salad:

2 salmon fillets, pan-seared in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper

2 cups mixed field greens

1 cup green beans, blanched in boiling water for 90 seconds and then chilled in an ice bath

4 baby potatoes (about 1 cup sliced potato), sliced, boiled until tender, drained, and cooled

6 baby Roma tomatoes, halved (or any tomatoes you like)

6-8 black good quality olives (such as Niçoise or Kalamata)

8 soft-boiled (or hard-boiled, if you prefer) quail eggs*

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice)

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch salt and pepper

*If you can’t find quail’s eggs, you can use 2 hen’s eggs (1 per person, since 4 quail eggs equals about 1 hen’s egg).

To soft boil the quail’s eggs, bring a small saucepan of water to a rolling boil.  Carefully add the quail’s eggs and boil for 2 1/2 minutes.  Transfer the eggs from the boiling water directly into an ice bath (a bowl of cold water filled with ice).  Cool completely, then crack and peel, being a bit careful because the membrane between the egg white and shell is a little thicker than in a chicken’s egg.  (To make medium-boiled quail’s eggs, boil for 3 minutes; for hard-boiled, boil 4 minutes.  I used Simply Cooked’s guide on How to Cook Perfect Quail’s Eggs and it worked like a charm.)

Arrange all salad components on two plates in any decorative way you like.  Whisk together all ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small bowl and drizzle on top.  Serve immediately, with fresh ground black pepper on top.

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Disclosure:  Compensation for this post was provided by GE via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are my own, and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of GE.