What do we really crave for lunch on a day when the temperature is up in the 80 – 90s? I just don't want hot food (unless it comes off a grill). Stews or braised type of dishes such as cassoulet (a French traditional dish with stewed white beans, braised pork, duck and sausage type of dish) is perfect to warm the soul on a winter blizzardy day. But in summer time or even spring time, well it’s just time to give the oven a little rest because we are overheating. Naturally we gravitate towards salads but the challenge is making them a main dish and keeping them interesting. In order for the salad to take center stage it must tantalize the palate and should have bright flavor notes such as freshly squeezed
citrus juice, complementing herbs and awakening acidity from good quality vinegar.
(colorfull fish salad)
Classics
Egg salad, grilled, chilled vegetable antipasto such as zucchini, asparagus, broccoli rabe etc. are particularly refreshing and tasty when they’re drizzled with good extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. For more opulence I vote for poached-chilled salmon, with diced tomatoes and freshly chopped basil and a simple vinaigrette. Growing up I enjoyed my mother’s chilled dishes. Often such dishes were recycled left-over meats from the day before. One of mother’s signature dishes was chilled boiled beef shoulder chopped into small cubes which she tossed with red peppers and raw onions and apple cider vinegar. It might not sound that delicious but it was totally satisfying and hit the spot. When I worked in France I remember eating an artisan charcuterie in vinaigrette on a country visit in a small mom and pop bistro. The plate was prepared similar to my mother’s chilled beef dish in addition to tiny pickled vegetables sprinkled into the mixture. In Italy I enjoyed vitello tomato consisting of thinly sliced, fanned out, boiled beef that was covered with a creamy sauce of zingy capers, cooked eggs and olive oil. The whole dish was sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley that finished the dish with a potent bright-herbaceous note.
Tuna salad nicoise style is probably one of the better known chilled fish salad dishes with black olives, hard boiled eggs and skinny French beans. Cooking many years in fine fish restaurants such fish salad combinations were often the star dish particularly on the lunch menu. For my recipe, below, I used naturally silky textured tuna or salmon bellies poached in olive oil and gently tossed with red peppers, with purple-black Kalamata olives and then seasoned with a squeeze of lemon, sea salt and fresh pepper.
(ingredients for Summer salad)
Chilled Fish Salad
(recipe yields four portions)
1 pound tuna belly, skin and bones removed – if your fishmonger does not have tuna belly you can substitute with salmon belly or canned tuna or salmon.
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 red pepper
½ cup black olives, preferably Kalamata
1 tablespoon oregano, chopped
1 lemon, juiced¼ teaspoon sea salt, to taste
black pepper grindings, to taste
1. In a shallow skillet combine fish and olive oil. On low heat setting cook tuna for 45 minutes. The doneness can be tested with a fork – simply break a piece off, if this is done easily the tuna is done.
2. Remove the tuna from oil with a slotted spoon and dry on a kitchen paper lined plate. Transfer
tuna into a refrigerator.
3. Core red pepper, remove seeds and cut into 1/8-inch cubes.
4. Chop olives in pieces of similar size to the peppers.
5. In a bowl combine tuna, peppers, olives, oregano, lemon juice and salt. Combine the ingredients with a fork, by breaking the tuna with the fork apart.
Chef’s Tip: The recipe works well with canned tuna – just skip the oil cooking part in the recipe.
