Tuna Salad Niçoise

I know you're thinking it...salads are already low carb, right? Well, that's true in general. Salad vegetables are generally very low carb, and many of these vegetables are featured prominently in low carb diet induction phases. It seems, though, that we have many ways of making salads higher carb in this country, by including croutons, dried fruit, breaded meat, or massive quantities of sugar-added dressings.

In any case, salad niçoise is pretty easy to low-carb (yes, I'm using "low-carb" as a verb). I simply replace the potato with one of my favorite fruits, a Hass avocado. Subbing the avocado actually makes the salad prep that much simpler since it is sliced up raw.

Tuna Salad Niçoise (Serves 2-4)

Ingredients

Salad:

2 4.5-oz. cans chunk light tuna, packed in oil
4 hard-boiled eggs, cooled and peeled
1 ripe tomato
8 oz. whole green beans, cooked to preference
1/4 to 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
4 to 6 cups romaine lettuce, torn
1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted and sliced

Dressing:

3 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Before chopping the fresh vegetables, make sure eggs and green beans are prepared. Drain the oil from the tuna. This oil can be discarded, but lately I have been using it to make the salad dressing. Whisk the mustard and lemon juice into the oil. Add minced garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. Shred the tuna and comine with the halved olives, green beans, and torn lettuce. Toss with the dressing. Then add the hard-boiled eggs, sliced ripe tomato, and sliced avocado. Serve immediately, and enjoy. This salad makes a very filling meal with all of the protein and fat from the eggs, tuna, avocado, and dressing.