Seared salmon niçoise salad
This salad is a lovely twist on the classic Provençal salad, and makes the perfect summer lunch. Soft and creamy bantam eggs marry perfectly with crisp, fresh vegetables, rich fish and dressing. When bantam eggs are not in season, you can substitute them with delicious Burford Browns, Old Cotswold Legbar or quail eggs.
Method
Start by making the salad dressing. Place the garlic into a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt, and pulverise until smooth. Stir in the mustard powder, vinegar and olive oil. Roughly chop the caper berries and stir into the pestle and mortar, along with the chopped shallots. Stir in the chopped herbs and place to one side.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, then cook the eggs for 3-4 minutes, for a soft-boiled egg. Remove the eggs from the pan and plunge into cold water, then peel and slice in half. Refill the pan with water and bring to the boil again. Add the potatoes and cook for 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper, and heat the butter and olive oil in a frying pan, until it begins to foam. Add the salmon fillets to the frying pan, skin down, and fry for 3 minutes. Flip and fry for 2 more minutes, then top with the lemon zest and remove from the pan.
Add the asparagus and green beans to the pan of potatoes, bring back to the boil, then cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are just cooked through. Drain the vegetables, refresh with cold water, then tip into a large salad bowl, with an extra drizzle of olive oil.
Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the salad bowl, along with the sliced eggs and anchovy fillets. Remove the baby gem lettuce leaves and add these to the bowl, along with the olives.
Top the salad bowl with the seared salmon, serve and enjoy.
Ingredients
4 Clarence Court bantam eggs
200g baby new potatoes, halved
4 skin-on salmon fillets (150g each)
Salt and ground black pepper
20g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
100g asparagus tips
100g fine green beans, trimmed and halved
12 cherry tomatoes
4 tinned anchovy fillets
2 baby gem lettuce (or a mix of leaves, such as rocket and watercress)
12 red olives, pitted
For the salad dressing:
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon caper berries
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
A small bunch of fresh herbs such as dill, parsley or chives, chopped