If, On a Hot Summer Evening. . .

By Vickilane

Sometimes, nothing sounds better than a salad. A Salade Nicoise is pretty much a full meal. There's a little advance prep that, ideally, could be done in the morning before things heat up. Boil potatoes, hard cook eggs, steam green beans, make vinaigrette (fresh basil, thyme, oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper,) and pour some on the cooked potatoes, then use it to marinate the thin sliced onions. 

Come evening, it's just a matter of assembling the ingredients--lettuce (or spinach,) a small can of tuna in oil, sliced cukes, tomato wedges, the potatoes, green beans, onions, hard-cooked egg, some olives--Kalamata if you don't have the little French ones, some capers, and the vinaigrette. And if, after a too hot day, a cooling thunderstorm moves in, it's nice to sit on the porch with coffee and, for Himself, perhaps a drop of something stronger. . .