[Recipe] Seared Tuna Nicoise salad

Salad

* 450g baby new potatoes
* 300g fine French beans
* pitted green olives, sliced in half
* cucumber, cut in slices
* red onion, sliced into rings
* radishes, sliced thinly
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Classic vinaigrette
* 2 baby gem lettuce, separated into leaves
* 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
* tuna loin steaks, about 100g each
* 2 large eggs

vinaigrette

* 125ml extra virgin olive oil
* Juice of ½ a lemon
* chopped chives

method

1. Boil the potatoes for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain well then halve. Splash with olive oil and sprinkle with chives and sea salt. Leave to cool. Trim the beans then cook in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in iced water. Drain well once more and pat dry.

2. Mix the potatoes and beans with the lettuce, radishes, olives, cucumber and onions. Whisk the ingredients for the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables in some of the vinaigrette.

3. Heat a large non-stick frying pan until you can feel a good heat rising. Add 1 tbsp of the oil then lay in the tuna steaks. Season with sea salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes on each side until they feel slightly springy when pressed. The tuna should still be pink in the middle. Cut each steak in half and place on top of the salad.

4. Place the eggs in to a pan of boiling water and cook for 6 minutes (for a well set white and runny yolk). Plunge the eggs into iced cold water to prevent them from cooking further. Once cooled, roll the egg on the work surface, gently applying pressure so the shell begins to crack, then peel off the shell.

5. Place the eggs on top of the tuna and cut in half, to reveal the soft runny yolk.

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