Author Notes
With thoughts of spring comes the welcome anticipation of spending more time outside. When my sons played baseball in Little League our spring evenings were spent at the ball field, eating dinner in the bleachers (usually four or five nights of the week!). Now they are on the track and field team and there is only one weekly meet ... no need to be planning portable dinners quite as often. I still welcome an easy dinner to take outside, though. One of my favorite salads is the classic Nicoise Salad. Packed with protein and an explosion of flavors, it is a meal in itself. A terrific way to enjoy this salad when on the go is to stuff a crusty baguette with it and head to the baseball game (or lacrosse, or soccer...). I love the jars of Tonnino tuna fillets packed in olive oil and use them here. —BlueKaleRoad
Ingredients
-
1
12 ounce crusty baguette
-
1 tablespoon
Dijon mustard
-
1/4 cup
red wine vinegar
-
1/4 cup
olive oil (I use the olive oil drained from the tuna)
-
8 ounces
red or Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled until soft and sliced thinly (I do not peel them)
-
4
eggs, hard boiled and sliced lengthwise into quarters
-
2
jars (6.7 ounces each) Tonnino tuna fillets in olive oil, drained
-
1/4 cup
flavorful black olives (nicoise are classic but I used kalamata since I already had them), roughly chopped
-
4 ounces
green beans, ends snipped and steamed until crisp-tender
-
1/4 cup
capers
-
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
-
Cut the baguette into four equal lengths. Slice each in half lengthwise and pull a portion of the interior out to create a hollow area to fill. Keep the interior bread for future croutons (I have a bag in the freezer that I add to and use as needed). Lay the baguette halves out on a cutting board for assembling.
-
Combine the mustard, red wine vinegar and olive oil in a jar. Cover and shake until combined. Spread a little on the inside of each baguette half.
-
Place the sliced potatoes in a medium sized bowl and add the remaining dressing. Toss gently to coat the slices.
-
Begin layering the ingredients equally on the four baguette bottoms: eggs, potatoes, tuna, olives, green beans and capers. Salt and pepper to taste and place baguette tops on.
-
Wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours. Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before you plan to eat them.
See what other Food52ers are saying.