Tuna Quinoise Salad {recipe}

Tuna "Quinoise" (Quinoa Niçoise) Salad {recipe}

There is no real "recipe" for this, just suggested amounts for ingredients, many of which can be substituted, omitted, and adjusted.

serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked quinoa
4 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
1 medium sweet potato, roasted, cooled and cut into ¾-inch cubes
2 handfuls haricot verts (thin green beans), lightly blanched, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch lengths
quarter red onion, sliced paper thin cross-wise, and soaked in cold water for about 15 minutes
2 cups oil-packed tuna
2-4 handfuls wild arugula
handful olives (any kind, though the obvious choice here is Niçoise olives)
Anchovy Garlic Vinaigrette
optional (if you have them): drained and rinsed capers, fresh ripe tomatoes, sliced radishes
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Drizzle about ¼ cup of Anchovy Vinaigrette. Gently toss. Until ingredients are combined and vinaigrette is well-distributed. Taste. Adjust with additional vinaigrette, salt, and/or pepper as needed.

The salad, if not over-dressed, will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for about a day.

Resources and Notes

~ quinoa: I buy organic quinoa from the bulk bins at Whole Foods Market
~ oil packed tuna: gourmet/specialty retailers have good Italian and Spanish olive-oil packed tunas, but if you can only get to a regular grocery store, try Wild Planet. If you're really ambitious, you can try poaching fresh tuna yourself in olive oil. Good luck with that. Seriously.
~ Anchovy Vinaigrette: recipe here, or alternatively, you can skip the vinaigrette, add whole anchovies to the salad, and dress it all with some olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.