It is so difficult to eat salads in winter even though I love them. Not only are they healthy but they help me to lose weight, providing the dressing isn’t too high in calories. The challenge for me is to find interesting salads that taste good even when it is wet and cold outside. The other night I found myself in a position where my husband wanted curry and I wanted salad. It was easy to divide the prawns for two separate dishes and I just happened to have a few cooked Jersey Royal potatoes left over and a handful of Dwarf beans in the fridge that I hadn’t used. The latter two are essential components of a Salad Nicoise, one of my favourites, so it is no wonder I decided to do a variation on this theme. The outcome was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making this again!
Nicoise is the French word for “in the style of Nice.” So any dish that is labeled Nicoise would be in the cooking style of Nice in Provence, France. Usually these are recipes that have ripe olives, tomatoes and anchovies. The predominant flavoring is often garlic.
The prototypical dish is Salad Nicoise and includes olives, tomatoes, anchovies and vinaigrette, along with fava beans, tuna and hard-boiled eggs. (Even though potatoes are found in recipes outside of France, this is not typical of Nice.)
Compared to many, this is a relatively low-calorie recipe for this style of salad. I hope you give it a try.
Prawn Salad Nicoise Serves 2
- 125g raw king prawns
- 1 egg (free-range and organic if possible)
- 1 little gem lettuce
- 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 Kalamata black olives
- 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
- 6-8 New Potatoes, peeled, cooked and sliced
- 100g Dwarf beans, topped and tailed and cut into 1 inch pieces
- Juice 1/2 lemon
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp chopped dill
- Bring a small pan of water to the boil and add the egg and prawns. Boil for 4 minutes then remove the prawns with a slotted spoon and dry on kitchen paper. Continue to cook the egg for a further 4 minutes, remove and run under cold water. Peel off the shell and quarter.
- Using the same pan but with fresh boiling water, add the beans and blanche for 4 minutes until they are just tender. Drain and reserve.
- Separate the leaves of the lettuce and tear into pieces. Put into a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, olives, onions, potatoes, cooled beans, prawns and egg.
- Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil and dill in a small bowl. When combined pour over the salad and gently toss to coat all ingredients. Season if you like (I didn’t think it was necessary). Serve immediately.
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