Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Niçoise!

P1010667 by CaptainShen
P1010667, a photo by CaptainShen on Flickr.

I had thawed out some ground grass-fed beef, but suddenly came to the realization that it wasn't ground beef at all. It was super-succulent, silky grass-fed thin deli meat, house-roasted at a store near my house. However, it wasn't what I wanted at all-- I'd had the same in a basil salad for breakfast.

Utterly hopeless, I fell to the floor and began to pound my fist on the refrigerator. What on earth could I make?! The only meat I had that wasn't frozen was tinned tuna! All I had in the fridge were bizzare, random things! An open tin of anchovies, two eggs laid by a coworker's own beloved chickens, dry-cured olives, a half of an organic roma tomato, and these darned spring onions, bulbous glossy purple-white and crisp green. Not to mention the remainder of those pesky capers and the last little serving of some vinaigrette.

Cough, cough. Apparently, my refrigerator had converted to a gigantic Niçoise salad holder.

I love this salad dearly. The startling saltiness of the anchovies, olives, and capers is soothed by the cooing coolness of refreshing tomato, spinach, and olive oil. Of course, the crown jewels of this bowl were the voluptuously creamy little orange-yolked cups, creamy beneath nutty sparks of cracked black pepper.

I tend to agree with the old school thought that a proper Niçoise salad (thats Nii-Swas) utilizes tinned tuna and does not contained the cooked vegetables (potato and green bean) that are popular in mondern times.

Perfect salad for a sunny meal on the lawn before work.

Aaaah... how... ...Nice...

5 comments:

Deus Invictus said...

I don't see a contact link on your blog so I figured I would just leave a comment and let you know. Someone created a DFW Primal group on meetup.com if you are interested. First meeting is May 1 at Arbor Hills in Plano. If you're interested join the group.

Shaleah said...

Oh wow, thanks! Awesome! And who is this?

Deus Invictus said...

Names Carl. Remember the Vibram-Wearin' Paleo Eatin' guests from work you mentioned in the Shout Out Post. That was my mom and step dad.

Shaleah said...

Awesome, Carl! Nice to 'meet' you! How did they like their tomato sauce?

I requested off May 1st. Yahoo!

Deus Invictus said...

I didn't even know about the tomato sauce I had to go and ask. My mom said she used to braise the short ribs. Sounds delicious, I kind of wish they had invited me over.

I look forward to meeting you may first. I know my little sis will be coming, I mentioned it to my parents but I'm not sure if they are coming yet or not.