Nicoise-Style Tuna Salad With White Beans & Olives

SUBMITTED BY: USA WEEKEND columnist Pam Anderson PHOTO BY: megnrn

"For my nicoise-style tuna salad, just open three cans: one each of tuna, white beans and sliced olives. Toss these ingredients with slivered red onion, olive oil and lemon juice. Take time, if you like, to boil eggs, or pick them up at the grocery salad bar. Serve the salad with steamed green beans. For an even simpler version, add a little chopped parsley to the salad for color and serve it with salted tomato slices."

SERVINGS & SCALING

Original recipe yield: 4 servings

USMETRIC

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INGREDIENTS

3/4 pound green beans, trimmed and snapped in half
1 (12 ounce) can solid white albacore tuna, drained
1 (16 ounce) can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
4 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered

READ REVIEWS (13)

DIRECTIONS

Place green beans, 1/3 cup water and a large pinch of salt in a medium skillet. Cover, turn heat on high, and bring water to boil. Once beans start to steam, set timer and cook until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. (Because the beans cook in such a small amount of water, make sure not to let the skillet run dry.) Immediately dump them onto a lipped cookie sheet lined with paper towels to cool.
Mix tuna, white beans, olives and onion in a medium bowl. Whisk together oregano, oil, lemon juice and zest in a medium bowl, then pour over the salad and gently stir to combine.
Adjust seasonings to taste. Arrange a portion of green beans, tuna-bean salad and eggs on each of 4 plates.

This recipe was originally featured in the USA WEEKEND article Hot-weather Remedy: Cool Seafood Salads on August 24, 2003.

Find the Perfect Recipe from Pam Anderson .

Pam Anderson is the author of four cookbooks, including her latest, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over .

REVIEWS

MORE MEMBER REVIEWS

Reviewed on Apr. 27, 2005 by BGCITYKAT

Fresh and lemon-y, the zest makes this salad sing. I tweaked the recipe a bit, (real kalamata olives, citrus-infused olive oil, more seasonings.) As I was taking it to a buffet for a large crowd, I bulked up the bowl by adding some green peas, roma tomatoes and a can of artichoke hearts. A scant cup of leftovers made a nice lunch the following day. A great addition to my salad repertoire.

24 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Jan. 9, 2006 by skipper11

Great recipe. Tastes just like the nicoise salad from a restaurant that I love. I used kalamata olives instead, and left out the eggs and green beans. Served over mixed greens instead -- was super easy. Also, after an initial tasting, added a little more oregano and lemon zest.

16 users found this review helpful