French Tuna and Bell Pepper Salad
This colourful French salad is full of varied flavours and textures. Chunks of tuna, wedges of potato, crisp beans, bell pepper and tangy tomatoes make for a quick and easy summery meal. Serve with crusty whole-wheat baguettes.
Ingredients
400 g new potatoes
50 g fine green beans
2 quail eggs (optional)
220 g mixed salad greens
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tapenade (black olive paste)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
pepper to taste
10–15 radishes, thinly sliced
1 can (170 g) tuna in water, drained
100 g cherry tomatoes
1 each of red, yellow and green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
8 black olives
fresh basil leaves to garnish
50 g fine green beans
2 quail eggs (optional)
220 g mixed salad greens
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tapenade (black olive paste)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
pepper to taste
10–15 radishes, thinly sliced
1 can (170 g) tuna in water, drained
100 g cherry tomatoes
1 each of red, yellow and green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
8 black olives
fresh basil leaves to garnish
Directions
cooking time 20 mins
serves 4
- Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the beans are just cooked. Drain well and set aside to cool.
- Place the quail eggs, if using, into a saucepan with cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a low simmer for 3 minutes. Rinse well in cold water. Peel the eggs carefully and place in cold water.
- Toss the salad greens with the parsley, chives and red onion in a large shallow bowl.
- To make the dressing, mix the tapenade with the garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar, and season with pepper. Pour two-thirds of the dressing over the salad greens and toss well to mix.
- Halve the potatoes and arrange them on top of the salad greens with the green beans, radishes, tuna, tomatoes, bell peppers and olives. Halve the eggs and add them to the salad. Pour over the remaining dressing, garnish with basil leaves and serve.
cooking time 20 mins
serves 4
Nutritional information
PER SERVING
254 calories
15 g protein
12 g total fat
2 g saturated fat
22 mg cholesterol
21 g total carbohydrate
8 g sugars
5 g fibre
189 mg sodium
Radishes are a useful source of vitamin C and are very low in calories. The radish has a very hot flavour due to an enzyme in the skin that reacts with another substance to form a mustard-like oil.
