Hot Niçoise Salad

“So what are you excited about this week Helana?” Russ Turley, my co-host at Homemade is Best asked me on a recent episode of our iTunes podcast.

“That’s easy–My Father’s Daughter, the new cookbook from Gwenyth Paltrow,” I admit not at all ashamed of my celeb-crush and foodie interest.

Yes, Gwyneth Paltrow–Grammy Winner, Actress, Founder of Goop, Amateur Foodie & Chef, and overall Renaissance Woman that she is–published a cookbook.  What else would you expect from this endlessly busy, protean woman? Clearly, a cookbook was the next step.

And you know what? I love this cookbook.  It’s at times goofy and superficial (don’t get me started on her miso soup comments or how she used to flirt with borderline attractive Greek guys), and perhaps a little too “Nostalgic 101”–the first lesson we foodies learn when writing recipes and talking about food–but I’ll be darned if these recipes aren’t great.  They’re fresh, inspiring, all-encompassing, and clearly delicious.  In fact, I might go out on a limb here and say that I did learn something from her…like how to slow roast candied tomatoes.

Despite all of the viral jokes about this book–and trust me, there are plenty of good ones–I want to introduce Clearly Delicious readers to a new way to cook tuna, eggs, and salad courtesy of Gwenyth Paltrow: the Hot Niçoise Salad.

Combining fresh garden vegetables with a lean, healthy and beautiful cut of tuna, only to be drizzled with warm egg yolks, the Hot Niçoise Salad is unlike any warm salad I’ve tried.  It covers your main food group bases while instilling handfuls of basil, exotic Niçoise Olives and Olive Oil Packed Anchovies.

This Hot Niçoise Salad, just like Paltrow’s book, is definitely something worth getting excited about.

Hot Niçoise Salad

This recipe is adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s new book My Father’s Daughter and can be found on page 84.  Paltrow remakes a classic cold salad–the Cold Niçoise Salad–for comfort during cold winter days in London.  Regardless of the season, I think the Hot Niçoise Salad goes great during summer months too with its combination of fresh garden vegetables and fresh from the gulf tuna, but you may wish to eat it inside.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 lb green beans, stems removed & steamed

* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

* 1/2 cup Niçoise Olives (can substitute Kalamata or other Black Olives)

* 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

* 1 large handful fresh basil leaves

* 1 yellow or red pepper, cut into strips

* 1 green or red pepper, cut into strips

* 1 dozen olive oil packed Spanish Anchovies

* 4 (6-ounce) tuna steaks

* Salt & Pepper to taste

* 4 large eggs

* 1 lemon, halved

1.) Preheat oven to 400F.  Wash produce and prep: remove stems from green beans, halve cherry tomatoes, cut green and yellow or red peppers into strips, and tear basil into large pieces.

2.) In a heated pot with a steaming basket, steam green beans for 4-6 minutes, or until slightly cooked, but still crispy.  In an oversized bowl, toss green beans with peppers, olives, tomatoes, 4 tablespoons olive oil, anchovies, and salt and pepper to taste.

3.) Transfer vegetable mixture to a roasting pan and spread out evenly.  Bed tuna steaks (dressed in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste) on top of vegetables.  In 4 ramekins, individually crack a fresh egg and place around the four corners of your roasting pan.

4.) Drizzle each egg with your remaining olive and dress in fresh cracked pepper and coarse salt.

5.) Bake hot niçoise salad in oven for 12 minutes, or until the tuna is cooked but still moist and the eggs are set.  You may wish to cook the dish longer if you prefer a more done egg and tuna steak. However, one of the pleasures of this particular salad is the use of the warm gooey egg as a kind of sauce, so don’t cook the egg too long or you’ve defeated the purpose of incorporating it.

6.) Plate tuna steaks on beds of vegetables and serve individually with eggs and freshly squeezed lemon.  Dip eggs, tuna, finger, or whatever else into the egg and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition facts:
436 Calories per serving