Niçoise Salad

I so enjoy a nice, hearty salad for dinner.  Something filling, but not heavy.  Tonight we enjoyed Niçoise salad--not a totally traditional version but, my own take on it.  Customarily, Niçoise salad is topped with canned tuna fish, anchovy fillets, slices of hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, tomatoes, olives and green beans.  I ditched the canned tuna for fresh Ling Cod (caught by yours truly in Alaska this past summer).  Why on earth would ANYONE eat canned tuna when they can have fresh Alaskan fish?

Next, anchovy fillets.  We're a bunch of pretty adventurous eaters but when it comes to anchovies, everyone in this house prefers to enjoy the nutty flavor they provide without having to see the sad little fillets.  So, I incorporated their great flavor by using anchovy paste in the vinaigrette.

Hard boiled eggs--I felt like I had enough going on with the salad that I didn't need the eggs so, I skipped them this time.  But, they would be a delicious addition to this salad so, if you're feeling eggy--add them in!

Boiled potatoes.  Potatoes, yes.  Boiled, no.  I thought I could get a little more flavor in there by roasting them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  Simple and delicious.

Tomatoes.  It's almost impossible to find a sweet, flavorful tomato this time of year so I opted for sweet little grape tomatoes.

Olives and Green Beans--yes and yes.  I picked up a mix of marinated olives from the olive bar at the local grocery store as well as some fresh green beans.

Niçoise Salad w/ Ling Cod
8-10 yellow fingerling potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb fresh green beans, end trimmed
1/2 red onion, sliced into rings as thinly as possible
1/2 pt grape or cherry tomatoes, halved pole to pole
1/2 pt marinated olives (Niçoise olives are of course great, Kalamata will work too), seeds removed and halved lengthwise
About 6-8 cups of greens, loosely packed (I used a mix of green leaf lettuce and baby arugula and I didn't measure--just use enough to serve 2 people a really large salad or 4 people a side salad)
1.5-2lb FRESH Ling Cod (Any fish would be fine, really.  Salmon, halibut, bass, fresh tuna--whatever you have on hand.  If it's fresh, it'll be good)
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
2 tbsp unsalted butter


Salad Dressing
1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 375.  After scrubbing and drying your potatoes, poke them several times with a fork. Toss them with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper then spread out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for about 30-40 minutes or until fork tender.  Once they are finished roasting, remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before slicing them in half, length wise.  Set aside.

While the potatoes are roasting, bring a large stock pot full of salted water to a boil.  Drop in your trimmed green beans and cook 3-4 minutes only, until tender but still crisp.  Immediately remove from the boiling water and drop into a bowl filled with ice water to halt the cooking.  Remove the beans from the ice water, drain and set aside.


For the dressing: In the bottom of your salad bowl, whisk together the anchovy paste, mustard and vinegar until combined.  Continue whisking while slowly streaming in the olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove about 1-2 tbsp of the dressing and set aside (will be used to drizzle over the top of the salad later).

For the ling cod: Remove the skin from the fillet, cut into individual servings and pat dry.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.  Combine the ground coriander seed and thyme in a bowl.  Sprinkle evenly over both side of the fish.  Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a large skillet.  Just as the butter begins to brown, place your fillets in the pan and cook about 2-4 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your fillet) until just barely cooked through.  Remove from pan and set aside.

To assemble your salad add your greens to your salad bowl with the dressing already in the bottom of the bowl.  Gently toss to evenly coat your greens.  Distribute the greens evenly between serving plates.  Carefully arrange your potatoes, green beans, red onion slices, olives and tomatoes on top of the greens.  Top the whole thing with a ling cod fillet and then drizzle lightly with the little bit of dressing you held out earlier.  Enjoy!