Salad Nicoise

The best tuna salad is a salad Nicoise , a real French salad that is rich in garlic anchovies and lovely green beans. For the best result use fresh tuna stakes if you can get them . But if you can not use tinned tuna .

You will need.
3 tomatoes
225g/8oz green beans
200g/7oz tuna
½ a red onion
1 little gem lettuce
6 anchovies
2 eggs
8 black olives
1tbsp white wine vinegar
3tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
Fresh parsley and chives
salt and pepper

There is a lot to do for this salad so start by getting some hot water on the stove. Then cook you beans . As soon as they are cooked get them in to cold water to stop them from cooking and so they stay nice and green.Then take you eggs and place then in a pan of boiling water and boil them . You want them hard boiled but not to hard boiled . For a real authentic look you want the very centre to have a little under cooked look. once they are cool cut them length ways.

Now take your tomatoes and quarter then. slice your onions as thin as you can and break up you lettuce. Add your olives and anchovies to the bowl. Dice your anchovies up a little before you add then to the bowl or some one will get all the anchovies and some one will not get any.

Now to make the dressing crush the garlic very finely and add the olive oil and vinegar to the mix. season with salt and fresh ground black pepper and then add the finely chopped parsley and chives. Whisk them all together and then add them to the bowl with the tomatoes onions and lettuce. Take your beans and dry them off and get them in to the bowl.

Now it is up to you haw you wish to have your tuna . If it is fresh you could have it just char-grilled in the very top of the salad . Or you could have it precooked and chilled and just mix it in . Or if you have to just take it out of the tin and add it to the salad. Toss together all the things in the bowl and then arrange them in a large salad bowl. Make sure that you have a good mix of all the components of the salad all threw the bowl and finally finish with the hard boiled eggs on the top.

On a warm summers day this is a real taste of the south of France on a plate.