green beans w/ tuna cream in southern france

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As I start usually these days … we are still in Southern France. However, we moved from Carcassonne to Sérignan meaning from Languedoc into Hérault approaching also the Mediterranean coast. For statistics: Carcassone is a town of about 47.000 inhabitants while Sérignan has got about 8.000 people i. e. a village. So now we are living in a small townhouse near the centre of the village – and enjoy the daily noisette resp. glass of vin rosé sitting somewhere on the main place crowded by cafés, bars, bistros, brasseries … restaurants.

The weather is fine w/ lots of sunshine – so we are fond of salads … When surfing my recipes I came across a salad w/ green beans & tuna. I decided to give it a try … adapting the original recipe to our kitchen life in Southern France.

So we start w/ a bunch of beautiful fresh green beans … (no changes so far!)

The main point I adjusted the salad was not creating my very own tuna cream, but relying to a cup of rilette de thon which I smoothened w/ some liquid cream. It worked well!

Concerning the cornichons: in France cornichons are a lot more acid & salty than at home. So I reduced the amount of chopped cornichons …

Now let’s start w/ the original recipe!

What do we need:

  • dried savory for the beans
  • olive oil & balsamic vinegar
  • spring onions
  • cornichons
  • hard-boiled eggs
  • tuna & mayonnaise for the creamy dressing.

We start w/ trimming & cutting the beans. Then the beans march in boiling water together w/ some salt & dried savory – let them get cooked for about 5 min for real al dente beans. Then drain them & let them cool by help of cold water. (I substituted dried herbs of Provence for dried savory.)

Afterwards we rescue the still warm cooked beans in a big bowl.

We cut the cornichons lengthwise as well & chop the spring onions.

We boil the eggs & cut them w/ an egg-slicer.

So far the preparations …

Then we combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper & spring onions. We add the mess to the beans & mix well. Finally we add the cornichons …

For the tuna cream we just put tuna, mayonnaise, salt & pepper in an appropriate bowl & start blending w/ a handheld electric blender until there is a fine creamy mess.

Drain the beans once more to skip remaining liquid as well as oil & balsamic vinegar … Add the tuna cream & mix. Fold in the egg slices.

Voilà: the salad is ready for serving!

We had some fresh baguette w/ the salad – it’s a full dinner.

Enjoy!

green beans w/ tuna cream in southern france
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Servings: 4
ingredients:
  • 500 g green beans
  • 1 tsp dried savory
  • 100 g cornichons
  • 3 spring onions
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 140 g canned tuna in olive oil (1 can)
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 4 eggs
  • salt & pepper (to taste)
equipment:
  • a handheld electric blender
how to:
  • Boil the eggs to get real hard-boiled eggs & peel them.
  • Clean the beans, trim the beans & cut them once or twice.
  • Bring water w/ salt & savory to a boil.
  • Add the beans when boiling & cook for about 5 min.
  • Drain the beans & cool them in cold water until still warm.
  • Chop the spring onions.
  • Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar & spring onions; add salt & pepper.
  • Mix w/ the beans.
  • Slice the cornichons lengthwise & add to the beans.
  • Drain the tuna roughly; some of the olive oil won’t do bad.
  • Add mayonnaise & salt & pepper.
  • Blend w/ a handheld electric blender like hell – until it’s a thickly creamy mess.
  • Drain the beans once more to dispose of too much liquid from cooking the beans as well as the olive oil-balsamic vinegar mix.
  • Add the tuna cream to the beans & mix all well.
  • Slice the hard-boiled eggs w/ an egg-slicer & add to the beans i. e. fold in carefully.
  • Serve at room temperature.
Notes
Prep Time: includes also cooking the beans (in parallel to any other preparations).
Cook Time: 5 min for the beans means that the beans are al dente. If you prefer softer beans cook them for up to 10 min.
Mayonnaise: You may substitute mayonnaise by sour cream (20%).
The salad makes 4 big servings (as a main w/ lots of crispy bread) or 6 smaller servings (as a side dish w/ meat or so).
The salad is fine in the fridge for at least 2 days.

(information on equipment)

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keep it simple. be flexible. always.