Tuna & Egg Salad
Tuna & Egg Salad has become a regular, hearty summertime lunch for me.
Cupboard staples like tinned tuna, olives, capers and hard-boiled egg are combined with fresh vegetables and a simple dressing.
It doesn’t haven’t pretensions to be a classic salade Niçoise, but it will keep you satisfied until dinner time.
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NOT SALADE NICOISE
The salade Niçoise I remember best was one I ate in New York.
That’s a fancy way to start a blog recipe isn’t it?
But it wasn’t really fancy at all. It was lunch in an unremarkable restaurant while I was at a work conference at Barnard College years and years ago.
Nevertheless, I did thoroughly enjoy the salad. Admittedly, that enjoyment was probably enhanced by having a view, just over the road, of Tom’s Restaurant, the exterior of which gives a thrill to Seinfeld fans such as myself.
Anyway, I see the salad’s still on the menu: “Grilled tuna, mixed organic baby greens, string beans, red peppers, red onion, potatoes, anchovy, nicoise olives, citrus dressing”.
It currently costs $21 but, as I rarely get further than mid Wales these days, I’ve no idea whether that’s a fair price for the Upper West Side.
TUNA & EGG SALAD
I’m telling you all this as a roundabout way of saying: if you’re looking for a recipe for salade Niçoise, you’ve come to the wrong place.
You can get into all sorts of arguments about what should go in salade Niçoise, and the one cited above manages to cover just about all the variations.
So, ignoring all that, I’ve called my recipe plain old Tuna & Egg Salad.
It came about when, after a few weeks of dull summer weather, the sunshine reappeared. I fancied something refreshing for lunch but that would also keep me full until dinner time.
So, using what I had to hand (no fresh tuna, no green beans), I decided to make a simple salad with just a teeny nod to the French classic.
The result may be humble, but I think it has a lovely combination of flavours and textures. If you plan ahead and hard boil an egg earlier in the day, it’s pretty quick to put together too.
Of course, if you want to put your own stamp on Tuna & Egg Salad, then go ahead and add anchovies, leftover boiled potatoes, green beans, and any different salad vegetables you fancy.
Just don’t go calling it salade Niçoise.
Tuna & Egg Salad
Tuna & Egg Salad is a simple but hearty lunch, without pretensions to the niçoise original. But it will satisfy you until dinner time.
Ingredients
Salad
- 50 g lettuce torn into bite sized pieces
- 40 g cucumber halved and sliced
- ½ medium red onion sliced thinly
- 5 cherry tomatoes halved
- 3 green olives sliced or left whole
- 3 black olives sliced or left whole
- 2 tsp capers drained
- ½ tin tuna in olive oil, drained approx 80g after draining, broken into pieces
- 1 hard boiled egg cut into eighths
- chopped chives optional
Dressing
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 pinch sugar optional
- salt & black pepper
Instructions
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Whisk together all the dressing ingredients and set aside.
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Put all the salad ingredients EXCEPT the egg and chives into a bowl.
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Toss the salad with two thirds of the dressing.
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Place the egg pieces on top.
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Drizzle over the rest of the dressing, sprinkle with the chives if using, and serve.
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