My dear friend and colleague, Nava Atlas is a bestselling vegan cookbook author and the founder of VegKitchen.com. Her highly anticipated new book, Plant Power: Transform Your Kitchen, Plate, and Life with More Than 150 Fresh and Flavorful Vegan Recipes is launching on September 2nd and is available for preorder now. Plant Power is packed with customizable recipes, and step-by-step guides that are appropriate for everyone–beginners, experienced cooks, vegan, and otherwise. The talent behind the 75 beautiful color photographs is celebrated author and food photographer, Hannah Kaminsky.
When the book launches officially, I will do a full review and giveaway contest. For now, as a sneak peek, Nava graciously shared a recipe from the book with me today, and I am now sharing it with you. Enjoy! I did.
Vegan Niçoise-Style Salad
Salade niçoise is a beautifully composed salad of French origin that looks fancy but is incredibly easy to make. The traditional version is often made with tuna, but here the fish is replaced with baked tofu, which makes a great stand-in. And the array of ingredients—white beans or chickpeas, slender green beans, tomatoes, and olives—makes it a splendid main dish salad for a summer meal, either on busy weeknights or festive occasions. Recipe from Plant Power: Transform Your Kitchen, Plate, and Life with More Than 150 Fresh and Flavorful Vegan Recipes by Nava Atlas. ©2014, published by HarperOne, reprinted by permission. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky. Serves: 4 to 6
- 8 to 10 ounces fresh slender green beans, trimmed (see Note)
- 1 large head Boston or Bibb lettuce, torn, or mixed baby greens
- Sliced fresh basil leaves or chopped fresh parsley as desired
- 8-ounce package baked tofu, diced, or 1 recipe Baked Tofu Teriyaki or 8 ounces combined baked tofu and dense herbed tofu
- 1 heaping cup grape or cherry tomatoes, or diced ripe fresh tomatoes
- 15- to 16-ounce can cannellini beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- Pitted green or black olives, or a combination
- Sliced red onion to taste, optional
- Vinaigrette, homemade or storebought, to taste
Steam the green beans just until bright green and tender-crisp. Err on the side of undercooking rather than overcooking. Drain and rinse with cool water until they’re at room temperature.
On a large serving platter or large shallow serving bowl, arrange the lettuce or greens. Scatter the basil or parsley over it. Arrange the green beans, tofu, tomatoes, beans, and olives in separate mounds over the lettuce or greens.
Top everything with a few thinly sliced rings of red onion if you like. Drizzle a little vinaigrette over the salad, then serve at once, passing the remainder of the vinaigrette at the table.
Note: If fresh slender green beans are unavailable, use organic whole green beans, thawed and steamed just until tender-crisp.
Nutrition information: Per serving (without dressing): Calories: 233; Total fat: 8g; Protein: 17g; Carbohydrates: 26g; Fiber: 9g; Sodium: 655mg
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