I like potato salad. I like the creamy sort, the vinegar-y sort; I’ll take a heat one with dill, no matter you’ve bought. And but, I’m about to make a daring declare: this potato salad could be my favourite. Why? As a result of it’s decidedly not a facet dish. It’s the entire rattling meal.
This recipe involves us from Melina Hammer, who calls it a “Niçoise-ish” potato salad, as a result of it’s souped up with tuna, eggs, and different basic Niçoise parts. “You get these vivid, daring flavors,” says Melina. It adapts simply for the season, she provides, suggesting winter radishes — like purple daikons or watermelon radishes — for those who make it this month. “You may also swap the inexperienced beans for 2 cups of chopped escarole or Napa cabbage, and I’m all the time a fan of thawed frozen peas. No have to cook dinner them any additional — simply toss ’em in!”
Right here’s the complete recipe, plus some pointers from Melina:
Niçoise-ish Potato Salad
by Melina Hammer
Serves 4
3 eggs
salt
1 dry quart small purple potatoes (roughly 2 lbs), any bigger ones sliced in half
1/3 cup additional virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp (or extra) freshly floor black pepper
2 tbsp capers, strained
2 1/2 oz skinny inexperienced beans, stem ends trimmed and sliced into 1 1/2-2 inch segments on a diagonal (or swap for peas, cabbage, and so on)
1 5-ounce can albacore tuna
3 radishes, ends trimmed and sliced in halves, then thinly sliced
2 tbsp finely sliced chives
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Deliver a medium saucepan with sufficient water to cowl the eggs by an inch to a boil. Decrease refrigerator-cold eggs into the water and cook dinner them on a simmer for 8 minutes, then plunge the eggs into an ice tub till they’re cool sufficient to deal with. Peel after which slice the eggs into six wedges apiece and put aside.
Deliver the potatoes to a simmer in well-salted water. Cook dinner for 8 minutes or till they yield simply when pierced with a pointy knife. Pressure them right into a colander with a slotted spoon, reserving the cooking liquid. Switch the potatoes to a mixing bowl and add the oil, mustard, black pepper, and capers. Gently toss to completely coat.
Blanch the inexperienced beans within the potato water for 30 seconds to 1 minute — simply lengthy sufficient for them to show vivid inexperienced. Pressure, and add to the potatoes. Add the tuna, flaking the fish into the bowl, adopted by the radishes and chives. Toss to include, then add the eggs and lemon juice. (Word: “If you happen to’re making this a day or extra upfront, maintain the lemon juice and add it simply earlier than serving,” says Melina. “In any other case, it is going to uninteresting the colour of the inexperienced beans.”) Gently toss as soon as extra. “I like to make use of a silicone spatula and work up from the underside of the bowl, folding the components along with a lightweight hand so the yolks stay principally intact.”
As you serve the potato salad, be certain to scoop up all of the final bits of custardy egg, straggler chives, and mustardy goodness clinging to the perimeters of the bowl. Get pleasure from.
Melina Hammer is a chef, meals stylist, recipe developer, and the award-winning creator of A 12 months at Catbird Cottage. Her recipes have appeared on Bon Appétit, Food52, and Edible. You possibly can observe her e-newsletter, Tales from Catbird Cottage.
What different dinner salads do you’re keen on? And do you may have a home salad?
P.S. 5 methods to improve an everyday inexperienced salad, and white bean soup, as a result of it’s February.
(Images courtesy of Melina Hammer.)
