How to Ignore a Recipe: Salad Niçoise

(Click here for the original recipe at This Dame Cooks Blog)

The Marinade:

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tsp minced onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 anchovy fillet, mashed to a paste

Pinch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine

2 dashes Tabasco sauce

2/3 cup olive oil

Salad for 2:

½ lb. tuna fillet, 3-4 oz per person

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved

1 waxy potato, boiled, coarsely chopped and tossed with a little marinade

1 cup of fresh green beans (young tender skinny beans), steamed 5 minutes, tossed with a little marinade

4 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped (reserve a few large leaves for lining bowls or plates)

1 small fresh carrot, scraped and julienned

1 small daikon radish, scraped and julienned (may substitute jicama)

1 small cucumber, washed and sliced thin

A few paper thin slices of red onion

12 Niçoise olives

6 green olives

12 cherry tomatoes

4 marinated artichoke bottoms

Little Caesar’s Pepperoni Pizza

Lite Ranch Dressing

Whisk all the Marinade ingredients together in a small bowl or shake in a jar.  Pour about 2 Tbsp of marinade on a plate and dredge tuna fillet on both sides and set aside to marinate while preparing the eggs and veggies.  To assemble:  arrange large lettuce leaves on a plate, top with chopped lettuce, arrange the eggs, veggies, olives and artichokes around the circumference of the plate, leaving the center for the tuna.  Heat the grill or non-stick skillet over medium high heat and cook tuna until barely done… no more than 2 minutes per side.  Place in center of salad and sprinkle with capers and parsley if desired.  Remaining marinade may be served as dressing. Wedges of lemon are a nice touch and add color.

Spend all day unpacking and catching up on email.  Pick up wife at work and take daughters to the park for a run.  Feel bloated and salty after only a few kilometers.  Run into friends playing volleyball and play a game.  Leave the park with less than an hour until your daughters’ bedtime and stop by Little Caesar’s for a $5 pepperoni pizza. Eat with ranch dressing.

While I’m typically proud when I completely ignore a recipe, this was a shameful mess. Planning to flog myself with turnip greens as punishment.
The Recipe: Unknown (but I bet it’s an A)
My Omissions: F