Just checked — it’s still salad weather. And Salade Niçoise is a perfect summer meal. I pulled this together with odds and ends from my refrigerator and pantry. The building blocks of this salad are boiled potatoes and green beans, oil-packed tuna, and a robust vinaigrette that includes anchovy, garlic, lemon, and Dijon mustard. After that, you can compose your salad using whatever you have on hand and drizzle with the vinaigrette. You can see in the photo that I used the green beans, potatoes, and tuna, and added a few leaves of baby lettuce, avocado, Calabrian chiles, oil-cured olives, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and roasted red peppers, and finished it with a sprinkling of capers and parsley. I forgot to pick up a loaf of crusty French bread, but somehow we survived without it.
I’m providing the recipe for the vinaigrette, and leaving you with creative license to compose your own beautiful and satisfying salad with whatever looks good in your pantry, fridge, garden, or neighbor’s garden.
Using the flat side of a knife, or a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic, anchovy, and salt into a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in lemon juice, zest, and mustard. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season to taste with black pepper.
Who’s ready to go bowling? Vermicelli bowls, that is. These are going to be right up your alley. (You didn’t think I was going to spare you bad bowling puns, did you?)
OK, let’s get the ball rolling. Start with dried vermicelli — rice or bean thread — found in the asian aisle of most grocery stores. This bean thread one is the one we like to use:
Use one bundle for each vermicelli bowl, and perhaps throw in an extra bundle for good measure. Place the bundles in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. Allow the noodles to soak about 5 minutes until soft and pliable, while you prepare the other ingredients. Transfer to a colander, rinse with cool water, and drain.
For the base, I like to mix together shredded romaine lettuce, red cabbage, Thai basil, and mint to keep it interesting and colorful. For each serving, use about 1 cup romaine, 1/4 cup of red cabbage, and 1 tablespoon each coarsely chopped Thai basil and mint. Place a heaping cup of the mix in each serving bowl:
Top with noodles:
Now comes the fun part, when you get to customize the bowls to your liking — you can top your bowls with julienned cucumbers, bean sprouts, lime slices, chopped salted peanuts, cilantro, green onion, sliced jalapeños — whatever tickles your fancy — and of course, the pickled carrots and daikon that you prepared. And, don’t forget to add a protein! The first time we made these we used boiled shrimp and it was surprisingly good.
Can’t imagine I’d strike out with grilled tofu or chicken, either. But the protein that bowled us over is Vietnamese Grilled Pork (recipe follows). We’ve made it both on the grill and broiled in the oven, and although the grilled one is the hands-down winner, the broiled one was still delicious and works fine for those who don’t have access to a grill.
Grilled on left, broiled on right
Serve your vermicelli bowls accompanied by a small bowl (about 1/4 cup per person) of Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce to pour over everything.
The recipe for Vietnamese Grilled Pork isn’t difficult, but does require about an hour to marinate. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes to help keep them from burning. Pro tip — partially freeze the pork to make it easier to thinly slice.
I wasn’t familiar with sweet or thick soy sauce, but I was happy to find it in the asian aisle at the grocery store. It’s thick, like molasses, and sweet, and it’s worth seeking out:
Strike while the grill is hot, get that pork marinating, and get ready to enjoy a delicious vermicelli bowl.
2 tablespoons fish sauce (preferably Three Crabs brand)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon freshly-ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (also called thick soy sauce)
1 pound pork tenderloin
Instructions
Mix together all ingredients except pork in a large bowl. Slice pork into thin slices (easiest if partially frozen) and add to marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. Meanwhile, if using wooden skewers, soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat grill or broiler. Skewer the pork, and grill or broil until pork is cooked through and marinade has caramelized and is a deep brown color.
