Hot Niçoise Salad and Catching Up

Before we share food news, recipes and such – let’s catch up.

I have deleted my Facebook account. This takes two weeks to disappear so for any of my friends there, my photo is now a silhouette and that will disappear after July 31st. Evidently this takes two weeks. My email is the same and if anyone wants to drop me line, I love mail :-)

We had a nice but short visit with family from Mississippi. Shared a few good meals and compared our different versions of Kindle readers. Pity the cousins couldn’t come too. There are times I wish we lived out there in quiet little Tylertown.

I would have my fix for board and card games, raucous family gatherings and some great places to ride on Doug’s Road King. But alas, they don’t have a Fresh Market, pretty sure there isn’t a jar of Nutella sold without a good drive and (to the best of my knowledge) it’s a dry county. Also a job would be good, income would be needed….so we will stay here. For now.

My other blog, Novel Meals, gets neglected now and then but I am still reading and writing little book reviews. I am bad about updating on Goodreads as well. So little time. My next review there is on The Paris Wife.

Now, on to the good stuff - Hot Niçoise Salad.

This photo is just before it was popped into the oven.



Another brilliant recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow. I am a fan of Salad Niçoise and never thought about having it served hot. The inspiration came from Paltrow’s reminiscing about this cold salad but stating it didn’t seem right to have on a cold wintery day in London. It does, in fact, seem a dish to have when it’s steamy hot in the summer.

This revision works a dream.

At Southern Seafood (where we purchase our fish and shrimp) tuna chunks were $7.95 a pound vs. the $19.95 a pound for slices. A decadent bargain.

This recipe is set up for four servings. I cut it back to two servings but we still had some leftover for lunch today. Sweet.

Hot Niçoise Salad

1/2 pound green beans (trimmed)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup pitted Niçoise olives (3 ounces)
1 cup roasted red or yellow bell peppers, cut into strips
Two 2-ounce cans flat anchovies packed in olive oil, drained and chopped
1/2 cup torn basil leaves
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Four 6-ounce, 1-inch-thick tuna steaks
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice



Easy Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Steam the beans in a steamer basket until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Immediately transfer to a large roasting pan with tomatoes. Add a few glugs of olive oil and mix well.

Add the olives, bell pepper, anchovies and basil, toss - season with salt and pepper. Brush the tuna steaks with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Set the tuna in the middle of the vegetables. Nestle 4 ramekins among the vegetables and crack an egg into each ramekin. Drizzle the eggs with 1 tablespoon of the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast the tuna, vegetables and eggs in the center of the oven for 15 minutes, until the fish is slightly rare in the center and the egg whites are set, but the yolks are still runny.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of oil with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and tuna steaks. Transfer to plates and serve immediately.



I served this with a freshly baked chewy baguette and boiled potatoes. Alas, we didn’t have a bottle of Rose in the house so……..no wine pairing today.

This recipe was published in Food and Wine Magazine (April 2011) but I am fortunate to own a copy of My Father’s Daughter. This recipe is highlighted in the (believe it or not) Salad section.

Since this was published in Food and Wine, I will share this with CreamPuffs in Venice for her roundup of Magazine Monday.



Hope all is well in your part of the world!