Midwestern Nicoise Salad

Every Tuesday I get a little anxious as the anticipation of trying to eat up another box of vegetables from our CSA rolls around.  I have been getting more and more creative and feel less overwhelmed now but it is still quite an effort.  This Midwestern Nicoise salad is a collaboration between me and my mom.  We put it together after I brought over a bag of veggies for our weekly Sunday night dinner.  This is a pretty vague recipe because well, it is a salad so feel free to improvise.

• Ingredients for vinaigrette:
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions for vinaigrette:

• To make the vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Whisk vigorously to emulsify. Set the dressing aside while preparing the salad so the flavors can marry.

Ingredients for the salad:
2 Grilled chicken breast
1/2 of an avocado
A bunch of green beans
A bunch of snap peas (we left them in the pea pods)
2 large tomatoes
3-5 baby new potatoes
Salad greens
Parsley
Chives
Maybe some mint


Directions for Salad:

• Grill chicken breast.  You may add BBQ sauce if you wish. Cut into bite size pieces
• Slice avocado
• Boil green beans and snap peas for about 4 minutes and then immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process.  
• Boil potatoes until soft and slice into discs
• Slice tomatoes
• Chop parsley, chives and mint and use as a garnish over the salad
• Combine all ingredients and dress with the vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with a little pepper and enjoy!

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