Nicoise Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled & cut into quarters.
• 1 small red onion, finely sliced.
• 250g green beans, topped (not tailed).
• 2 roma tomatoes, cut into quarters.
• 12 black, pitted olives.
• 500g baby new potatoes.
• 1 red capsicum (pepper).
• 1 x 425g tin of tuna, drained & flaked or 2 x 200g fresh tuna steaks.
• 1 cos or butter lettuce, washed & torn into bite sized pieces.
• Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped.
• 1 x 45 tin of anchovy fillets, drained & cut in half.

Vinaigrette:

• 4 teaspoons of wine vinegar.
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped.
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard.
• Salt & pepper to taste.

Method:

• Cook the potatoes in their skins until just tender. Cool & cut into quarters.
• Steam the beans until tender. Rinse under cold water & drain.
• Wash the peppers, remove the seeds & membranes & thinly slice.
• Drain tinned tuna or if using tuna steak, season with freshly ground black pepper, heat a heavy bottomed non stick frying pan & cook over a moderately high heat for approximately 3 minutes each side, or until well sealed but still pink inside.
• Arrange lettuce onto a serving platter, place potatoes, capsicum, olives, eggs tuna & place on the lettuce bed.
• To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients into a bowl, whisk well.
• Pour vinaigrette over salad, top with anchovy fillets.