Pumpkin & Pomegranate

I adore Salad Niçoise. I got a craving yesterday after opening up my CSA box and finding gorgeous butter lettuce. Sadly the butter lettuce did not make it today as it became part of my salad yesterday BUT I still am making salad Niçoise for dinner tonight. The catch is that while I eat fish (pescetarian) my boyfriend does not (vegetarian). In addition, tuna really isn’t the healthiest of fish due to all the contaminants, and while I have not given up fish I do feel guilt and so I try to limit my intake of flesh to not very often at all.
About a year ago I went to my favorite raw place and ordered their version of this delectable salad. While not an exact replica, it did taste good, and it gave me an idea for the faux fish. Basically this is a nut paté. With the addition of the nori there is definitely some sea flavor, but I would not call it decidedly “tuna”. Either way it is nutritious and full of good fats. My boyfriend hasn’t had tuna in years.

There are a few parts to this composed salad. The paté, the raw aspects of the salad, the cooked and cooled aspects, and then the vinaigrette. I highly recommend doing the cooking well in advance so it is cooled by the time you serve. You however do not want it straight from the fridge, so give it time to get to room temperature. I boiled the potatoes for my boyfriend’s portion last night.

*side note* I do not eat potatoes myself, as they are a high GI food (and not nutritionally dense enough for me to merit regular consumption). Basically, potatoes will make it difficult to lost fat and easier to put it on. If you are gifted with an amazing metabolism like my boyfriend then you are quite lucky. I am not, and so potatoes are a not something I eat with any frequency.

*another side note* Generally speaking I do not use any oil other than virgin coconut oil. I believe it to be the healthiest of all the oils and will go into more detail on that later. For this dish I used olive oil. Olive oil is not unhealthy but it is much less stable than virgin coconut oil. The virgin coconut oil simply would not work in this dish. The flavors would not meld well, and since it is a dish best served at room temperature, the virgin coconut oil would be difficult to work with. If you choose to include Olive oil in your diet you should purchase only high quality virgin oil. It should be in a dark bottle (the light damages the oil), Preferably it should not have traveled far, which is why I err on the side of caution and purchase organic virgin olive oil from California. And this is an absolute MUST if you want to be consuming HEALTHY olive oil. It MUST be kept in the refrigerator. Only take it out to use it, and put it back immediately. Olive oil will lose all the good healthy properties if exposed to heat or to sunlight (all nut oils follow this rule as well, and never ever cook with canola oil. When you heat it it becomes a BAD oil similar to trans fats. I don’t even buy canola oil). This another reason why I prefer virgin coconut oil and it is extremely stable and can be kept in the pantry.

The Raw Vegan Faux-Tuna

2 C. raw sunflower seeds (soaked for 2 hours)
4 T lemon juice
1 T fresh chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic (chopped finely or pressed)
1 T sea salt
2 tsp crushed red pepper (or to your taste)
2 sheets crumbled or chopped nori (seaweed sheets)
1 large avocado
1 C. Pine nuts
4 pitted dates
2 T apple cider vinegar
4 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp. fresh thyme

Method:

1. Strain the sunflower seeds and put in the food processor along with the lemon juice, parsley, garlic, salt, crushed red pepper, and nori. Blend until you get to a chunky paté consistency. scrape into a bowl.
2. Now put the remaining ingredients into the food processor and blend until creamy. Pour on top of “tuna” mixture.
3. Stir together and you have your “tuna”.

I know it doesn't look like much, but it is extremely flavorful!

Vegan Niçoise Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/2 T minced shallot
1/2 T Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T wine vinegar (I used white but red would work too)
1/4 C. Extra Virgin Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Combine the shallot, mustard, salt, lemon juice, and vinegar.
2. drizzle in the oil slowly while whisking to emulsify.
3. Add black pepper to season.

Cooked Salad Portion

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh green beans
1 lb small boiling potatoes (I used new potatoes)

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes until tender then remove and let cool to room temperature.
2. Blanch the green beans (just under 2 minutes or so) then immediately put them into an ice bath to stop cooking and preserve color.
3. when potatoes are cool, slice or quarter them and toss with some of the vinaigrette.
4. if your green beans are too long slice them in half, then toss with a bit of the vinaigrette.

Raw Salad portion

Ingredients:

• a handful of sliced grape or cherry tomatoes
• a few leaves of butter or green lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces

• Niçoise olives or other small bistro olives (not raw, but you don’t have to prep these)

Method for Salad composition:

Usually this is served on a platter and each person is served a portion, but for sake of ease (and lack of a platter) I composed the salad on separate dinner plates.

1. make a bed of lettuce on the bottom of the plate
2. place a scoop of the “tuna” mixture in one “section”. Arrange the tomato slices in another “section”, and do the same with the potatoes, and the green beans. scatter the olives over the salad (capers are also a traditional part of the salad but I completely forgot them).
3. Drizzle the tomatoes with some of the vinaigrette. And use any leftover to drizzle all over the rest of the salad.

And here is my plate, it’s just with less dressing and no potatoes ;-) Next time I might boil some turnips as a substitute for the potatoes though.