Breakfast Nicoise Salad

It’s spring cleanse time and that means cleansers across the globe are dusting off their blenders and loading up their grocery carts with veggies, veggies, and more veggies!

If you’ve been with us awhile, you know we’re BIG green smoothie fans. That said, we’re also an adventurous bunch and like to go a little wild and crazy at times.

Enter the Breakfast Salad.

A breakfast salad?! Have we completely lost our minds?

Now next to green smoothies, one of the most cleanse-friendly and easy-to-whip-together meals of all time is a giant salad. And we know there are those of you who just can’t stand the thought of drinking your breakfast.

So what’s a cleanser to do?

The answer is simple! Try our new breakfast salad recipe.

Starting off the day with a salad may sound unconventional but it’s a great way to up your veggie intake. Just like green smoothies, this salad is loaded with fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and best of all flavor.

The salad recipe below is a nod to one of our favorites – the Nicoise salad. Of French origin, it is traditionally a delightful combination of tuna, green beans, potatoes, eggs, and olives, finished with a lemon vinaigrette. For our cleanse-friendly version, we decided to sub out the potatoes and use sautéed radish instead. Radish are typically eaten raw but quickly sautéing them lessens the bite and makes them a great seasonal substitute for potatoes.

If you are not cleansing and can tolerate eggs, then feel free to add a hard boiled or poached egg too!

Are you ready to retrain your brain and add a salad to your morning routine? Try it and be sure to leave us a comment below. We suspect you’re going to want to thank us later.

Avec Amour,

Breakfast Nicoise Salad

Yield: 1 salad

Ingredients:

• 1 TB. olive oil
• 1 bunch radishes, washed and cut in half
• 1 cup green beans, steamed
• 2 cups pea greens or any baby green combination
• 3 TB. pitted green and black olives
• 1 TB. coconut oil
• 2 TB. sesame seeds
• 1 TB. smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• ¼ lb. fresh Ahi Tuna
• Juice of 1 fresh lemon
• 3 TB. fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ clove garlic
• 3 TB. olive oil
• Pinch of sea salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• **Optional: Add a hard-boiled or poached egg to the salad if you are not cleansing!

Instructions:
Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Sauté radishes for approximately 3 minutes making sure to keep them slightly crisp. Set aside to cool. Steam green beans for 2 minutes or until bright green. Set them aside as well.

On a small plate combine sesame seeds, smoked paprika, and ¼ tsp. sea salt. Coat the tuna steak with the spice mixture on all four sides. In the same small skillet, you used to sauté the radishes, heat the coconut oil until hot. Sear the tuna on all sides cooking until your desired doneness (a quick sear on all sides for rare or 5-6 minutes total for medium rare). Let the tuna rest while you make the vinaigrette.

In a high-speed blender combine lemon juice, thyme, Dijon mustard, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified.

Place your greens on the bottom of your serving dish. Lay the radish, green beans, and olives decoratively on top. Thinly slice the tuna steak and lay it over the top of the salad. To finish drizzle your salad with the lemon thyme vinaigrette and enjoy!