Grilled Tuna Nicoise Salad

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe. A Nicoise salad is a French tradition. I have had to change it to adapt to Plan Z but the adjustments made for a delightful change. I took out the potatoes and added roasted shallots. I took out the olive and inserted roasted elephant garlic chunks. The dressing is wonderful and can work on many different salads. Very French and very Zola at the same time.

Servings: Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Shallot Dressing

  • ¼ cup of vinegar. Red wine or Balsamic are good choices but you can use any one.
  • 3 tsp of Dijon mustard (find one with no sugar added)
  • 1 tsp of minced garlic
  • ½ – 1 tsp of Truvia. Start with ½ tsp of see if it’s sweet enough for you.
  • 1 tsp of dried thyme
  • 4 large fresh basil leaves (you can use dried basil in a pinch)
  • 2 tsp of capers (drained and rinsed)

Instructions:

Whiz all of this in a blender. Taste and adjust seasoning. You can add sea salt and pepper if you want. If you want the dressing more liquefied, add a bit of water to get it to the consistency you like.

For the Salad

  • 2 tuna filets 4 – 6 oz each
  • 1 cup of green beans trimmed (hericots verts are the official French green beans. They are skinnier but either will work)
  • a few slices of small tomato or a few cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • 1 cup of roasted shallots and garlic chunks (I use cut up elephant garlic cuz it’s less pungent. When you roast it the garlic becomes almost sweet)
  • Lettuce of your choice. Boston makes a mild salad. I used romaine hearts but any combo can work too.

Instructions:

Prepping the salad.

First up is to roast the shallots and garlic chunks. Take off the wrappers from each. Then cut the shallots and garlic into ½” chunks. They will roast faster this way. Just spray them lightly with olive oil and roast them at 375 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until browning on top and the garlic should be mushy if you squish it or stab it with a knife.

At the 15 minute point you can add your green beans to the oven and roast them too. Just put them in an ovenproof pan, spray with olive oil spray, dust with sea salt and add them to the oven. They take 15 minutes to roast. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can grill your beans along with the tuna.

While the veggies are in their second half of roasting you can grill your tuna. Lightly spray it with olive oil. You can add a bit of rub on it or just sprinkle on sea salt and pepper. Grill both sides on medium high to get some nice grill marks. Then turn down and let it cook slowly in the middle. An alternative would be to grill it so you get the grill marks and then add it to the oven and roast with the veggies. That will cook it through, too. Some like their tuna just seared on the outside and close to raw in the middle. My husband and I both like ours cooked through with just a bit of pink left in the middle.

While the roasting and grilling are going on you can prep your salad. Cut the tomatoes and prep the lettuce. Put in a large salad bowl or on a large plate. Drizzle on the dressing. When the rest of the veggies are done add them scattered on the plate and then put the tuna on top. The hot food on top of the cold salad and dressing make a tasty meal sensation.

Enjoy!

Cheers,