Tuna Nicoise Salad

I'm doing salads this week and this is one of my all time favorites! I love the saltiness and the variation of textures this salad provides. The portion here is for 2 people only. If you notice, I didn't use potatoes in my recipe; I used whole wheat couscous instead to round the dish out.

1/2 head romaine lettuce
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cucumber, seeded and sliced thin
1/4 red onion sliced paper thin
Handful of kalamata olives, sliced
2 boiled eggs
Handful of green beans
1 C couscous
1 can tuna

Vinaigrette
1 anchovy
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced
Salt/pepp

Fill a pot with cold water, place egg inside, cover and bring to just a boil. Kill the heat, keep covered and let sit for 11 minutes. Take the egg out and let cool before peeling and slicing. This makes a perfect boiled egg every time).

While the egg is cooking prepare the vinaigrette. Smash the anchovy in the bottom of a small dish. Add the lemon juice and continue to smash until pretty much dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil and mix. Whisk in the olive oil at the end. Mix half this mixture with one can of tuna and let sit. Dress your lettuce with the other half and arrange on a platter and let this sit as well. I like to let the lettuce and tuna sit in the dressing for a bit to allow the flavors to absorb and the lettuce to just slightly wilt (don't worry, there is plenty of crunch elsewhere in the salad)!

Now is when I take the time to chop and arrange. Since the dressing is all in the tuna and lettuce, I just lightly salt the other veggies. You may chose to dress your lettuce and veggies all at once at the end. Up to you!

You will also have to quickly blanch and shock the string beans to retain crispness and accentuate the color. To do this, bring the egg water back up to a boil, cook the trimmed green beans for about 3 minutes, then immediates dunk them in ice water.

Assemble everything to your likings and serve on a platter and give each person a bowl of couscous to load the salad onto.