Julia Child's Salade Composée

From inthekitchenwithkath.com

Adapted from Julia Child’s recipe in The French Chef Cookbook

Serves 2

This recipe is easily adaptable to suit your needs. Increase the ingredients to serve more people. Substitute another kind of fish or chicken for the tuna.

Vinaigrette (recipe at follows the salad recipe)

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans (I used 50% less sodium.)

1 cup raw zucchini, sliced

¾ cup raw mushrooms, sliced

Mixed salad greens (about 3 cups)

1 hard-cooked egg, quartered

10 grape (or cherry) tomatoes, cut in half

12 black olives (I used seedless Kalamata)

4 – 6 anchovy fillets

1 can of good-quality tuna

Chopped parsley (Optional garnish)

1. If you don’t have a hard-cooked egg, get that going first. I highly recommend this method.

2. Make the Vinaigrette (recipe below)

3. Drain and rinse the beans, put them in a bowl and stir 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette into them.

4. Put the mushrooms in another bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette.

5. Put the zucchini in a third bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette.

6. Allow the beans, mushrooms, and zucchini to marinate for 20 – 30 minutes.

7. Toss the greens with about 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette.

8. Divide the salad greens between two dinner plates.

9. Divide about 1 cup of the marinated beans between the two plates (1/2 cup each). You will have left-over beans for the next day.

10. Arrange the rest of the salad ingredients around the beans. Pour a bit more vinaigrette over the salad (especially the ingredients that had not been marinated) and sprinkle with parsley if desired.

Julia Child’s Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

6 tablespoons best-quality olive oil

A few grinds of pepper

Put all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously to combine.