Grilled Tuna Nicoise Salad

Our dear friends, Barb and Ellie, made the long journey from Montreal to Muskoka for a weekend of relaxation and reconnection.  We had a few delicious cocktails, some highly addictive popcorn, some fresh, healthy meals and a lot of laughs.  

 

 

Ellie’s Paloma Cocktails

1 ounce tequila

½ ounce Cointreau

splash simple syrup

Juice of ½ lime

Grapefruit juice

Lime wedges and mint sprigs for garnish

In an old fashioned glass filled with ice, pour the tequila, Cointreau, simple syrup and limejuice.  Top up with grapefruit juice and garnish with lime wedges and mint.  Yum!

  

Grilled Tuna Nicoise Salad

 
8  3-ounce tuna steaks

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

3 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and freshly ground pepper

24 new potatoes, boiled and cooled

8 hard boiled eggs, halved

2 tomatoes, cut into 8 sections each

large handful green beans, trimmed and blanched

2/3 cup Nicoise olives

for the vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

½ cup olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

red leaf lettuce

Marinate the tuna steaks in olive oil and lemon juice for 1 hour.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together all of the ingredients in a small bowl.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill on MEDIUM for 10 minutes and brush the grids with vegetable oil.  Place the tuna steaks on the barbecue and sear quickly, about 2 minutes per side for rare tuna. 

Arrange the vegetables, eggs, potatoes and tuna on each plate and drizzle with the vinaigrette. 

Serve with Tomato Soup garnished with Pesto.

In case anyone should get the impression that we were so virtuous all weekend, we should disclose that our last dinner together was a decadent calorie laden plateful of Pulled Pork and the most over-the-top Macaroni and Cheese ever conceived.  The recipe for the pasta dish came from an awesome British cookbook courtesy of Charlie called Pitt Cue Co, and it called for a ton of 3 different kinds of cheese.  We’re all moving a little more slowly today….