Dinner for a Warm Summer Night: French Bistro Salad
Good for date night? Plus, the Vault Sale at Food52 happening TODAY
Now that it is officially summer season, these warm summer nights call for meals that have substance, but aren’t heavy. Minimal stove/oven time is a bonus too.
Many, many years ago (and life before the kiddos), my husband and I used to frequent a little French bistro down the street from our apartment in Manhattan. The bistro house salad was a delectable combination of fresh lettuce greens, green beans, red potatoes and a few other things I can no longer remember. Since then, I've recreated this salad dozens of times at home, adding odds and ends on hand, but always making it with mixed greens, green beans and red potatoes.
Here is today’s version:
French Bistro Salad
Serves 2
Salad:
4 cups mixed greens
Small red potatoes, boiled, cooled and diced1
2 cups green beans, ends snipped, and then blanched
1 can tuna packed in olive oil
Dressing:
1 Tablespoon of your good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 Tablespoon shallot, minced
Salt and pepper
Mix all of the dressing ingredients together in a cup and stir, or add to a small jar, cover and shake.
Combine all of the salad ingredients and then toss to coat with dressing. This is a perfect dinner for two on a warm evening.
Some additional notes:
This meal IS VERY EASY AND FAST to pull together. If you use small red potatoes, they cook quickly. I blanche the green beans in the potato water as they are boiling. My green beans were thin so I blanched them for about a minute or two.
I made this for myself the other day for lunch (easily pulled it together on my lunch break with plenty of time to enjoy it) and then assembled the leftovers the next day for lunch. One bonus here is the cold potatoes have an increased amount of resistant starch.
Resistant starch is a starch that behaves like a fiber and is “resistant” to digestion. Instead of being broken down by our digestive enzymes, resistant starches are fermented by gut microbiota in the large intestine. Studies have shown that resistant starch may improve insulin sensitivity, improve gut health, and aid weight management through increased satiety.
By cooking and then fully cooling the potatoes (also can be applied to other starches like white rice), the highly digestible starch in the potato converts to a “resistant” starch.
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Because red potatoes vary so much in size, it was difficult to specify an amount. For lunch I had 4 small potatoes and this was the perfect ratio of flavors for me. Adjust all ingredient sizes to your tastes and hunger level!