Summery Salad Nicoise

Vittorio, our friend from Italy was coming for dinner on Monday and would stay overnight.  I was working on Monday and wondered if I had the time to get a satisfying dinner on the table.  But it was horribly hot, in the 90s, and the thought of leaving our air conditioned place to go back outside to a restaurant, wasn't appealing.  With a little advance planning I came up with my version of a Salad Nicoise.  It was a hit- cool, tasty and perfect for a scorching day.

I cooked the green beans and potatoes the day before and bought a jar of good quality tuna and a can of anchovies to have on hand. I should have also made a few hard boiled eggs but forgot to do that.  With good bread and chilled white wine we had a fine meal.

1 lb. green beans or haricot verts, trimmed
1 lb. potatoes, sliced
4 scallions, white parts finely chopped
vinaigrette dressing
1 jar tuna in olive oil from Italy or Spain, drained
1 can anchovies, drained
4 hardboiled eggs, halved
1 tsp. capers
cherry tomatoes or beefsteak tomato cut into chunks

Cook the green beans and potatoes in separate pots of boiling water. When the beans are bright green and still have a bit of a snap, drain and rinse with cool water.  When the potatoes are tender but not falling apart, drain.  Dry the veggies off and while still warm combine them in a bowl.  Add the scallions and toss with vinaigrette dressing.

Put the dressed vegetables on a platter.  Add chunks of tuna, the anchovies and the halved eggs on top of the veggies.  Sprinkle with capers and put cherry tomatoes or tomato chunks around the edge of the platter.

Serves 4

Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

I know that it is a little late in the season for a latke recipe. Chanukah has come and gone and I should be thinking about New Year's Eve. But latkes are delicious all year round and should be eaten more often than eight days in December (sounds like the title of a movie). My potato pancakes have few ingredients. That allows the potatoes to be the stars. Hand grating is tedious but essential and wringing out the water in a towel is messy but also essential. Make a small batch so that you aren't overwhelmed by it all. As always, applesauce or sour cream are perfect accompaniments. By the way, these latkes are gluten free, which may be important to a friend or family member. Thanks to Gourmet (Dec. 2000) for this recipe.

1 pound potatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 large egg, lightly beaten

salt to taste

1/2 cup olive oil

Fill a large bowl with cold water. Peel potatoes and coarsely grate with a metal grater placing the grated potatoes in the bowl as you go. When all the potatoes are grated, let them soak in the cold water for another two minutes. Drain well in a colander.

Spread the grated potatoes and the onion on a kitchen towel. Twist the towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer the potatoes and onions to a medium bowl and add egg and salt to blend.

Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Spoon 2 tbl. of potato mixture per latke into the skillet and flatten slightly with a fork. (You will be able to do four latkes at a time.) Reduce heat to medium and cook until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Using a spatula, turn latkes over and brown second side, about 5 more minutes. Transfer browned latkes to a plate lined with paper towels. Add more oil to the skillet as needed.

Makes 12-16 latkes

Notes: I used a two burner griddle which makes about 8 latkes at a time. If making the latkes in advance, reheat on a wire rack in a shallow pan in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. This setup insures that the latkes will stay crispy.