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Nicoise fan in search
of ideal salad

David Flood is in search of the perfect Salade Nicoise. He'd take it in a recipe -- but he'd really like to have one at a restaurant.

"I have yet to find a really good Salade Nicoise in any Honolulu restaurant, which is a pity as our climate is perfect for it, not to mention the abundant tuna," he wrote.

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on restaurant nicoise, but certainly some of you out there have favorites. If you know of a particularly good one at a local eating establishment, send your suggestion here and we'll narrow the field for Flood.

As for a recipe, this one comes from the venerable French cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, which is a good mark of authenticity.

It calls for baking the tuna in oil, then using the oil with white wine vinegar to make a simple vinaigrette. The salad contains standard nicoise ingredients of potatoes and green beans, with anchovies, hard-boiled eggs and olives on top.

Salade Nicoise

"Regional French," Le Cordon Bleu (Periplus Editions, 1998, $12)

3/4 cup olive oil
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs thyme
12-ounce piece tuna (ahi), skinned
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
10 ounces new potatoes, cooked, cooled, peeled and sliced
8 ounces green beans, cooked
1 green bell pepper, cut in strips
2 red onions, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
16 leaves butter lettuce
4 tomatoes, quartered
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
1-3/4 ounce can anchovies, drained
30 black olives

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place oil, bay leaf, thyme and tuna in roasting pan. Bake 30 minutes, until firm. Cool tuna in oil 20 minutes, then remove and place on rack to cool.

Strain oil, then gradually whisk into vinegar to make a vinaigrette.

Toss potatoes, with a little of the vinaigrette, then do the same with beans, peppers and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Break tuna into chunks and toss with more vinaigrette.

Arrange lettuce on 4 plates. Top with potatoes, then beans, peppers and onions, with tuna last. Place tomatoes and eggs around edges; top with anchovies and olives. Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette, or serve on the side. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving (without salt to taste), using all the dressing: 720 calories, 52 g total fat, 8 g saturated fat, 260 mg cholesterol, greater than 850 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 35 g protein.