Bumbawe Atuna Niçoise Salad

Alrighty then! What…have we… here?! A Niçoise salad! A wild and majestic creature of the culinary ecosystem! Look at this beautiful seared rare tuna! Pink in the middle, kissed by heat on the outside—like a dolphin that got too close to a volcano! Fennel pollen garlic aioli?! Oooh, fancy! That’s not sauce…that’s edible perfume, baby! And these Yukon Gold potatoes bathed in lemon caper parsley butter? Somebody loved these potatoes very much. SPICY cannellini beans?! Hoo-hoo-hoo! Little legumes with ATTITUDE! AND WHAT IS THIS?! A roasted artichoke heart stuffed with toasted fennel and sunflower seeds?! It’s like Mother Nature made a hand grenade for vegetarians! Mmmmmm! The mint! The basil! The Dijon vinaigrette! The anchovy and Calabrian chili egg combo is kicking my taste buds like a rhino in tap shoes! And those croutons! Crunchier than a hyena eating tortilla chips! This isn’t lunch…it’s a SAFARI OF FLAVOR! Do NOT let a raccoon near this thing. Trust me.

Ingredients

for two salads

1 cup red cherry tomatoes
1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 tbs olive oli
1/4 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup dried cannelloni beans
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large artichoke
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs fennel seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
8-10 small Yukon Gold potatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black pepper corns
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
Zest from 1 lemon
1 tbs lemon juice
1 clove garlic minced
2 tbs capers
1/4 cup minced parsley
2 cups trimmed green beans
1 shallot
4 radishes
1 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp Calabrian chili
1 anchovy fillet
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb tuna steak
Salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbs Vincent Vega’s Mayonnaise
1/4 tsp fennel pollen (plus pinch more for garnish)
1 head butter lettuce
1/2 cup stale bread
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs parmesan cheese
2 tbs lemon juice

Directions

For the tomato salad, mince the clove of garlic and whisk into the olive oil with the lemon juice, chiffon the basil and mint and slice the tomatoes in half and season with salt and pepper, toss into the olive oil mixtures. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, cannelloni beans, oregano, black pepper, salt and minced garlic. Saute for about a minute and cover beans with water, bring water to a simmer, simmer for three hours or until beans are tender. Add more boiling water as needed. Drain beans and allow to cool slightly, toss beans into the tomato mixture.
For the artichoke, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. !n a small fry pan over medium high heat add the olive oil, fennel seeds, and sunflower seeds. Toast the seeds in the oil for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown, remove from heat and drain the oil from the seeds, reserve oil. Trim the leaves and stem from the artichoke and remove the choke. Rub the artichoke with lemon juice and the with oil from the seeds, stuff the artichoke where the choke was removed with the toasted seeds and wrap in foil. Bake for 40 minutes in oven and remove from foil to cool.
For the potatoes, place potatoes in a large pot with cold heavily salted water and boil potatoes whole in water with the bay leaf and pepper corns for 10 minutes. Remove potatoes from water and allow to cool. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine the olive oil, butter, capers, minced garlic, lemon zest and juice, and parsley to melt butter and combine ingredients. Slice the cooled potatoes in half and toss in the butter mixture. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake, tossing occasionally, for 10 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.
For the green bean salad, bring a large heavily salted pot of water to a boil. Boil the green beans for 1-2 minutes and immediately place beans in an ice bath to stop the cooking. In a large bowl, combine the Dijon mustard and white wine vinegar. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to create and emulsion. Mince the shallot and slice the radishes thin, add to the Dijon vinaigrette. Dry the green beans and add to the vinaigrette, toss to coat the vegetable in the dressing.
For the egg, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Boil the egg for seven minutes and immediately place egg in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Peel the egg and dip in salted water, cut the egg in half and place a 1/4 tsp of Calabrian chili paste on each yolk and top with half an anchovy fillet.
For the tuna, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap garlic cloves in foil seasoned with salt and pepper and tsp of olive oil. Roast garlic for 40 minutes. Remove garlic from it’s skin and allow to cool, combine with Vincent Vega’s mayonnaise and fennel pollen, place mixture into a small squeeze bottle. Heat a small fry pan on high, season the tuna with salt and pepper, add the vegetable oil to the pan. When oil begins to smoke, add the tuna to the pan and cook for about 1 minute per side and about 30 second per edge. Remove from pan and slice.
For the butter lettuce, heat a small fry pan over medium heat. In a food processor, or with a knife, chop the stale bread into small 1/4 or less size pieces. Place the 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic in the fry pan with the bread crumbs. Fry the bread until golden brown. Remove the toasted bread from the pan and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Add the lemon juice to the remaining oil in the pan and whisk to combine. Slice head of butter lettuce in half and remove the core, drizzle the lemon and olive oil mixture over the halves of lettuce and top with the bread crumbs.
Place the lettuce halves on a plates with the other salads, egg half, and half the artichoke. Top each salad plate with half the sliced tuna, dollop the tuna with the garlic mayonnaise mixture and garnish with fennel pollen.
Serve.