Salade Nicoise--Simply Satisfying!

I have many hurried evenings due to my insanely busy schedule, so one night I literally had 15 minutes to whip up something "vegetable-y" since I was way below my daily goal for fruits/vegetables. After a quick look in my produce bowl, fridge, and freezer, I knew exactly what I was going to make: a very simple and extremely quick salade nicoise.

The classic Salade Nicoise is a "salade composee" (composed salad) as opposed to the more common "salade mixte" (mixed salad). It typically consists of tender French green beans called haricots verts artfully arranged with boiled red-skinned potatoes, tomato, tuna, nicoise olives, and hard-boiled egg, all dressed with a simple vinaigrette. I had all of the ingredients minus the nicoise olives and potato, but I had suitable substitutes of kalamata olives and sweet potato. I have to say, this was an extremely satisfying dinner that looked beautiful and was incredibly simple to make!

What I Used for Inspiration:

Frozen French green beans (haricots verts)

Wrinkly old sweet potato (yum! haha)

Just-on-the-cusp-of-funky tomato

Salade Nicoise

(2 small servings or 1 large entree)

1 C frozen (or fresh) French green beans, steamed until crisp-tender

1 tomato, funky spots cut off, and sliced in wedges

1 can tuna, drained and mixed with dijon mustard and mayonnaise

1 small sweet potato, steamed, peeled, and cut into thick slices

1 hard boiled egg, sliced

6 kalamata olives

1 T Vinaigrette dressing

Arrange the various vegetables and tuna on the plate as desired, and dress with the vinaigrette. Would make a lovely meal if paired with some nice crusty bread and a glass of wine. Bon appetit!

Superbly splendid scones!

I can't help it. I love a lot of things. I love daffodils, sunshine, kitties, boys...stuff like that. But there are very few things that I absolutely adore. I adore France, I adore food, and I *adore* British movies/tv shows. Lucky me, I recently discovered Downton Abbey on PBS, and what better to pair a fabulous drama with a fabulous friend with which to watch! Well actually...the magic happens when you pair a fabulous British drama with a fabulous friend and a fabulous little "tea time" get-together. So when she and I made a date to watch the first few episodes, it was a given that tea, scones, and tiny little sandwiches would be invited to the party.

My friend was gracious enough to provide the tea and tiny little sandwiches, and it was my task to make the scones. Remembering a pretty epic recipe my good friend from college used to make (quite frequently, I might add), I whipped up a batch and O...M...G... did it bring back wonderful memories!

I'm going to warn you: these are dangerously good, and unlike most scones you have ever had. Neither dry nor overly sweet, these scones are surprisingly moist and tender, and with just a hint of sweetness. While I couldn't find the exact recipe, I modified the one my friend sent to me based on my memory of her making them at college.

So by all means, turn on the oven, put on a pot of tea, fire up Netflix, and enjoy a little taste of Britain :)

Superbly Splendid Scones

(loosely based on the recipe found here)

Ingredients

3 C all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 C butter, melted

1 cup milk (whole or 2%)

1/2 C raisins

1 T white vinegar

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray baking sheet with non-stick spray).

In a microwave-safe glass measuring cup (or a small pot on the stove) heat the milk to nearly boiling with the butter and raisins. Let the raisins steep in the milk until it cools to room temperature (it'll plump them up nicely). Add the white vinegar to the mixture to sour the milk--it'll chemically react with the baking soda to make a nice tender, fluffy scone.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. When the milk mixture has cooled, add to the flour mixture and stir gently just to combine. The mixture will be pretty wet, not like most scones. Using a tablespoon, drop the scones onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve with clotted cream and jam.