Fresh Tuna Salad

Fresh Tuna Salad

Life can often be hectic and harried. That's why it's nice to sometimes pause and slow down. Often it's during those slow moments that you really see some of the truly amazing things around you.

The weather in Los Angeles has been spectacular as of late. It seemed like a good time to resurrect what might be considered a summertime dish - the tuna salad. But this tuna salad is decidedly different - and I think, better. It uses fresh tuna rather than canned tuna. In other words, it's basically a variation of the classic salade Niçoise. 

What I like most about this particular salad is that it exemplifies how important it is to use fresh produce and good, quality ingredients. Often the best dishes are the simplest dishes. 

Before starting this dish, you'll also want to prepare 4 medium-cooked eggs. This can be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge for when you need it. Put the eggs in a saucepan filled with at least 4 inches of cold water. Bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, submerge in ice bath and let cool. 

Take 6oz of thin green beans, stem ends trimmed and blanch them. 

Blanching can sometimes be tricky. The basic idea is to bring the vegetables to a nice crisp-tender, but also keep them vibrant and green. First, use a large quantity of boiling water. Second, use a lot of salt; the water should taste like the ocean. Third, once the vegetables are done, plunge them into a bowl of ice water immediately to stop the cooking process. 

While they are cooling, you can prepare the vegetable-mixture. Take about 4 oz of cherry tomatoes and halve them. Then, take 1/2 cup of Kalamata olives (pitted) and combine them in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes. 

Once the green beans have been cooked and have cooled down, cut the beans in half on a diagonal. Add them to the bowl with the tomatoes and olives. 

In another bowl, prepare a simple vinaigrette. Here, I combined 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, and 3/4 cup olive oil. I actually just eye-balled the measurements, but those are the rough proportions. 

Drizzle a bit of the mixture in with the tomatoes, green beans, and olives. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Set the bowl aside. 

Meanwhile, take a large Haas avocado, and peel and pit it. Cut it into wedges. Season with salt and pepper. 

Also, take the eggs that you prepared earlier, peel and cut them lengthwise into quarters. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (and drizzle with olive oil if you want; I didn't)

You probably saw that beautiful tuna loin hanging around in some of the other pictures. Time to cook it. First, cut it in half to make handling it and slicing it easier. The tuna should be close to room temperature when you cook it. 

Take a flat, nonstick skillet and crank it up to high heat. You'll really want to sear the outside, but leave the inside very rare. You can tell the pan is getting hot when the oil begins to smoke. That's when you'll want to throw it on. 

You can gauge how it's cooking by just watching the outside / side of the tuna. Try to allow only about 1/4 of an inch of the tuna to cook on each side. Drain on a paper towel and let rest for about 5 minutes. 

When cooled, slice each piece of tuna crosswise into slices, against the bias. 

Everything is almost done!

Arrange a layer of leafy greens on a plate. I used spinach. Thomas Keller recommends Bibb lettuce. I'm sure anything would work really. 

Scatter some of the green bean, tomato, and olive mixture over the leafy greens. Then, arrange tuna, egg, and avocado slices. Just continue to build the salad. 

Garnish with tarragon (or chervil). Drizzle a little more dressing on top and serve the remaining dressing on the side. 

Share, eat, enjoy!

Ingredients

1 pound trimmed center-cut tuna loan (thick enough so that you can sear it but keep it rare in the middle)

1 bunch of fresh spinach (or prepackaged spinach or other leafy green of choice)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Olive Oil

6 ounces thin green beans (haricots verts), stem ends trimmed, blanched

Simple vinaigrette (see quantities above)

4 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

4 medium-cooked eggs (see instructions above)

Tarragon or Chervil Leaves

SERVES 4-6


Recipe from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home