So Many Dishes

I think we’ve all had the experience of trying a dish in a restaurant and saying to ourselves, “I wish I could make that at home.” That desire has led to countless cookbooks, websites, Pinterest boards, Facebook pages, etc., dedicated to providing “copycat” recipes. It’s not something I indulge in, except for a couple of exceptions. I found a version of Olive Garden’s pasta e fagioli, because I love that soup. Olive Garden includes ground beef in their recipe, which isn’t traditional, but it’s the way I like it. I also hunted down a copycat of the lemon chicken orzo soup that used to be on the summer menu at Panera Bread. I still can’t understand why they discontinued it. It was definitely my favorite.

Sometimes, though, restaurants share recipes, or at least a make-at-home version of what they serve. That’s what today’s recipe is.

If you ever take a Viking cruise, or even request information about one, you will be inundated with brochures and emails. One of the emails is a monthly newsletter that often includes a recipe. The most recent edition happened to include their recipe for salad niçoise.

The menu on a Viking cruise changes daily, but there are a few dishes that are listed every day. Salad niçoise is an always available choice at lunch. I enjoyed it one day on our recent cruise, so when we were putting our weekly menu together and decided that we wanted a main course salad for Saturday, that was our choice.

I’ve made another version of salad niçoise before that used fresh tuna, but this used canned tuna. I really don’t have an issue with that. When I used the fresh fish, it was clearly the focus of the dish. This time, it was more about the combination of ingredients. And the Viking dressing is definitely superior. I expect that I’ll make this vinaigrette for other salads, too.

There is one issue with the recipe, however, and that’s the number of servings. It specifies six servings, but the instructions say to divide the lettuce among four bowls. The recipe calls for a head of butter lettuce, but I used baby leaf lettuce that we already had. My suspicion is that this really should be six servings, because I cut everything in half and we had leftovers. The only other change I made was to eliminate the anchovies. We like anchovies, but we certainly weren’t going to use an entire can, and I couldn’t see opening a can for just a couple.

Salad Nicoise

Vinaigrette

• 11/2 tablespoons shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salad

• 3/4 lb. fresh green beans, blanched; still warm
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 6 medium Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 6 small potatoes, cooked and cut into wedges
• 1 head butter lettuce, coarsely chopped
• 2 5-ounce cans chunk white tuna, drained
• 6 large eggs, hard boiled, peeled, and cut into wedges
• 1 can flat anchovy fillets
• 2 ounces black brine-cured olives (I used kalamata)
• 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, minced

For the vinaigrette, place all ingredients in a lidded jar; shake to combine.

For the salad, place green beans, onion, tomatoes, potatoes, and 4 tablespoons of the vinaigrette in a large bowl; toss gently. Divide lettuce among shallow bowls; spoon salad mixture over lettuce. Arrange tuna, egg, and olives on top, and add capers, parsley, and anchovy. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over each bowl.

Ken says to tell you that it was delish! Happy eating!