Nicoise Salad

Chef. Luis Felipe Lavieri

Ingredients:

- Seared sockeye salmon
- Yellow grape tomato
- Russet potato
- Beans (you can use purple)
- Hard boiled egg
- Mandarin orange segments
- Mediterranean organic pitted black olives



Mandarin Vinaigrette

- Zest of 1 mandarin
- Juice of 1 mandarin
- 3 leafs of mint
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 1 tea spoon of Dijon Mustard
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced


Directions

Seared sockeye salmon - Portion, Salt, and pepper. On a hot pan, add 1 tbsp of Olive oil, quickly cook each side of the salmon. Each side should be cooked for less than 1 minute, only long enough to get a little colour and for all the pores to be sealed.

Hard boiled egg - Put egg(s) in a pot with cold water, bring to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, set a timer for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, strain the egg(s) and run under cold water. Peel and cut in half longwise

Purple beans - Bring a small pot of water to boil, put in the cleaned purple beans for 30 seconds, strain the water and place the beans into an ice water bath to stop cooking process.

Russet Potato - peel and cut into cubes about 1-2 inches wide, put into a small pot of cold water, bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring the heat down to a medium heat. Check the potatoes every 3-5 minutes for done-ness. Usually takes less than 10 minutes for potato cubes to be fully cooked from the moment the water begins to boil. Do Not Overcook, otherwise you will end up with mash.

Yellow grape Tomatoes - cut in half

Mandarin orange segments - Peel mandarin. divide mandarin into segments. Remove any of the rind still attached to the segments and any seeds.

Mandarin Vinagrette 

Combine and emulsify all ingredients except for the mint. Chop mint finely and combine with the dressing.


Finishing the salad

In a hot pan at medium heat, pan fry Potatoes, beans, olives, grape tomatoes, and 2 tbsp of the vinagrete. Take off heat, add 1 tbsp of vinagrette and toss, Salt and Pepper to taste. Plate as the base. Add Hard boiled egg halves on top. Add Pan seared Salmon on top. Spoon 1 tbsp of vinaigrette on top of the salmon.

Mandarin vinagrette works really well also with Arugula

Summer Sweet Corn Salad

Adapted from
Taste of home



Ingredients

Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
1/4 tsp Salt
1 - 1 1/2 cups fresh corn
1 - 1 1/2 grape tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 Tbsp fresh minced basil
1/4 cup crumbled Feta
Optional:
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

Directions

De-cobb your corn and separate to remove any remaining corn silk.

Cut your grape or cherry tomatoes in halves and chop your cucumber into equivalent pieces. You can also use Zucchini for this, you just may need to make a little extra dressing to compensate for it being less juicy than cucumber.

In a large skillet, cook and stir corn in 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium-high heat until tender.

Transfer to a salad bowl; cool slightly.

While it cools, In a small bowl, whisk 4 teaspoons oil, lime juice, salt and hot pepper sauce.

Add the tomatoes, cucumber, onion and basil to the corn. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving or refrigerate until chilled.

Sprinkle with the feta cheese crumbles just before serving.

Makes about 4 servings.

Caprese and Greek Salad Skewers

Brought you from
Rachel's Kitchen

Ingredients (for Both)

Cherry or Grape Tomatoes (halved)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Caprese Skewer

Fresh Basil leaves
Mozzarella (cubed)
Balsamic Vinegar

Greek Skewer
Cucumber 
Feta Cheese (cubed)
Kalamata Olives (Pitted & halved)
Salt & Pepper
Optional:
Red Onion (roughly chopped)

Caprese Directions

Slice the fresh basil leaves into thin strips and place in a small bowl. Add a very small amount of olive oil to the basil. Use your hands to gently mix and coat the leaves.

Place one of the tomato halves onto a toothpick, flat side facing inwards. On the other end add the mozzarella cube. Take a small amount of basil and trap it by pushing the tomato and mozzarella together. The oil will help it stick between the two. Repeat. Drizzle a small amount of balsamic vinegar onto the finished skewers, and serve.

Greek Salad Directions

Quarter the cucumber and then cut into equal sized pieces, around the size of the halved tomatoes. Put the cucumber pieces in a bowl with around the same amount of halved tomatoes and (optional) roughly chopped pieces of red onion. Season with salt and pepper and a small amount of olive oil. Gently toss to mix a little, but don’t worry if the oil doesn’t evenly coat everything. 

Take a piece of the cubed feta and an olive half and put onto a toothpick. Then, stab the end of the toothpick through a tomato half, piece of onion, and one of the cucumber pieces, pushing the toothpick down to secure it on the end. Repeat. Sprinkle finished skewers with some more black pepper, and serve.