So what’s an old broad to do?
Today it is HOT in Seattle. HOT. This afternoon I will hang out in my cubicle writing a “lessons learned” document and reveling in the combination of delicious A/C and the gusty little fan under my desk.
Tomorrow I will wake up, brace myself for a day of miserable, pungent sweating, and keep on talking, blogging, and activism-ing about climate change. It’s the most pressing problem on our planet right now, and I don’t have any choice.
But tonight? Tonight I will creep home along the baking sidewalks, fling off my work clothes in favor of something loose and cool, shake up a wicked icy martini, and have this delicious, protein-packed no-cook salad for dinner.
Depleted Pantry Salade Nicoise
This recipe is based on a traditional Salade Nicoise and is adapted for what I know I have in my kitchen right now. Have I mentioned that it’s HOT? It’s hot. So I am not making any extra trips to buy ingredients, and I am not turning on the stove!
On a bed of fresh greens – I have romaine and butter lettuces in the fridge – arrange tuna, hard-boiled eggs, olives, green beans, and anchovies (yes, these are obviously optional). Boiled potatoes are traditional, and very nice, but I don’t have any cooked potatoes to hand.
I start by tearing up the lettuce into manageable pieces and tossing them in a basic vinaigrette. Here’s a really easy one from my favorite Swedish Chef, Marcus Samuelsson:
1 plump garlic clove, smashed and minced into a paste
1 generous tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
Juice of ½ lemon
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Whisk the garlic, mustard, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil as you continue to whisk. (Or you can just dump everything into a small jar and shake it about madly.)
Toss the lettuces in half the dressing and mix to coat (reserve the other half for drizzling).
Plop the dressed greens on a broad salad plate (in an artful arrangement, if you have the energy).
I open and drain a can of sustainably harvested solid white tuna, but you can use whatever tuna you like.
Flake the tuna into sizeable chunks onto the greens. Use all of it for a protein punch, only half if you don’t want a salad dominated by fish.
Slice a hardboiled egg or two (I think I only have one, but we shall see) and arrange it over the salad.
Toss a few whole or halved olives onto the plate. I have a jar of supermarket salad olives. A good, traditional Salade Nicoise uses excellent French olives (or Cerignola olives, mmmmmmmm) but I am fresh out of those. Manzanilla olives from Safeway will have to do.
Arrange a few cooked green beans on top. I have leftover steamed beans that are-pre-dressed with a little garlic. If you have pickled green beans, those would work a treat!
Finally, drape an anchovy fillet or two over the top and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Eat it accompanied with a hunk of crusty bread. It’s easy, healthy, delicious, and does not require heat.
