What if you took the ingredients of Niçoise salad, but put it on rice and added potato chips? That’s the premise of Chef Roy Choi’s tuna salad Nicoise bibimbap recipe. We talk to him about recipes like this featured in his new cookbook. These salads can sometimes feel intimidating, Choi writes. “To flip that, I want to hook you right into the salad, put you in the middle of the action. That action is the potato chips stepping in for the roasted potatoes. Then maybe you’ll zoom out a little bit to see the pretty rainbow of colors of the vegetables and how everything is sitting on a cozy bed of rice that you can mix up as you would a bibimbap so you can eat it with a spoon. It’s a salad, it’s a rice bowl, whatever it is, it’s unexpected in the very best way.”
Tuna Salad Nicoise Bibimbap
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
4 large eggs
12 ounces green beans, trimmed
4 cups cooked rice, at room temperature
4 cups mixed greens (arugula, spinach, etc.)
2 (6.7- ounce) jars or 3 (5- ounce) cans tuna, preferably packed in oil, drained (see Get In Where You Fit In)
2 cups sliced red onions or shallots
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 2 cups diced radishes
1 cup minced green olives
2 cups diced cucumber
2 cups diced celery
2 avocados, diced
¼ cup chopped or torn fresh parsley
Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe follows) or Old School Green Goddess
Handful of potato chips, sea salt or salt and pepper flavor, crushed
DIRECTIONS
Fill a large bowl with some ice and water and set aside. You’ll need this for the boiled eggs and the blanched green beans.
Fill a medium pot with enough water to cover the eggs by an inch or two (but don’t add the eggs just yet). Set the pot over medium-high heat. When it begins to gently boil, carefully add the eggs. Cook for 6 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to scoop out the eggs into the bowl of iced water so they stop cooking. Peel and put aside for now.
Return the pot of water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, drop in the green beans and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. The beans should be bright green and have some tenderness, but still be crisp. Transfer the beans to the ice bath. Once chilled, chop and set aside.
Now, start assembling. Set out four rice bowls. Divide the rice, mixed greens, tuna, red onions, tomatoes, radishes, olives, cucumber, celery, and avocados among the bowls. Halve the eggs and place one halved egg in each bowl along with some parsley. Generously spoon the dressing over everything and add the potato chips. Mix and eat like a rice bowl.
CHOICE WORDS: Potato chips on a field of green is designed to grab your attention, but on a deeper level, that’s The Choi of Cooking. I get how hard it is for a lot of us to incorporate vegetables into our daily lives when it’s not something we’re used to doing. Meeting you where you are is a big part of my philosophy, and sometimes that means potato chips on a salad. No judgment.
Get In Where You Fit In: Who says a Niçoise has to have tuna? You can swap out the tuna for pretty much any other protein like tofu, grilled or rotisserie chicken, or a crispy salmon fillet.
Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette
Makes about 2 cups
“This balsamic dressing is designed to be an everything-everywhere dressing,” Choi writes. While it’s easiest to throw all the ingredients into a blender, you also can add everything to a large mason jar and give it a really good shake to emulsify, he says.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup extra- virgin olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
In a blender, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, cilantro, mustard, garlic, and good pinches of salt and pepper. Blend to combine and emulsify, 10 to 15 seconds. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then it’s ready to dress.
— Courtesy Roy Choi, “The Choi of Cooking: Flavor-Packed, Rule-Breaking Recipes for a Delicious Life: A Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter, $37).
