VEGAN NIÇOISE-STYLE SALAD

By Nava Atlas VegKitchen.com

Salade Niçoise is a beautiful French composed salad that looks really fancy but is incredibly easy to make. The traditional version is often made with tuna, but here it’s replaced with baked tofu, which makes a great stand-in. And the array of ingredients—white beans or chickpeas, slender green beans, tomatoes, and olives—make it a splendid main dish salad for summer meal, either for busy weeknights or for company meals. Serve with any combination of fresh corn on the cob, a crusty bread, cold soup, or grilled vegetables.

Serves: 4 to 6

8 to 10 ounces fresh slender green beans, trimmed (see note)
8- to 10-ounce package baked tofu, diced,
or a combination of baked tofu and dense herbed tofu
(if you have extra time, here’s homemade Baked Tofu Teriyaki)
1 heaping cup grape or cherry tomatoes, or diced ripe tomatoes
15- to 16-ounce can cannellini beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Pitted green or black olives, or a combination
Marinated artichoke hearts, optional
Sliced red onion, optional
1 large head Boston or Bibb lettuce, torn,
or mixed baby greens
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Sliced fresh basil leaves or chopped fresh parsley as desired
Vinaigrette, homemade or storebought, as needed

Steam the green beans until they are bright green and tender-crisp. Err on the side of more less cooked rather than overcooked. Drain and rinse with cool water until they’re at room temperature.

On a large serving platter or large shallow serving bowl, arrange the lettuce or greens. Arrange the green beans, tofu, tomatoes, beans or chickpeas, olives, and optional artichoke hearts and/or red onion rings in separated mounds over the lettuce or greens.

Drizzle a little vinaigrette over the salad, then pass it around for everyone to dress their individual salads. Serve at once.

Note: If fresh slender green beans are unavailable, use organic whole green beans, thawed and steamed just until tender-crisp.