Hearty Salad from the South-West of France

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13TH, 2009

5 stars (out of 5 - a very hearty meal in a bowl)

It was SB's birthday dinner and he wanted us to make this huge salad that is popular in the south of France...

Ingredients:

Spring salad mix
Prosciutto
1 package Magret de canard (fumé)
Cherry tomatoes
Shredded cheese*
Potatoes (1 per person)
Eggs (1 per person)

Dressing: (as you wish)
Dijon mustard
Olive oil
White wine vinegar

1. First we peeled the potatoes, and sliced them as finely as we could. We put them in a pan with olive oil and fried them for a long time. You want them to be very well-cooked.

2. As the potatoes were cooking, we shredded the cheese and chopped the cherry tomatoes in half. We also started boiling the eggs (1 egg per person; for soft-boiled we left them in for four minutes).

3. We then made the dressing by mixing in dijon mustard (3 tsp) and white wine vinegard (1 tbsp approx) and olive oil, until smooth.

4. After the potatoes were ready (see above pic), we started the salad by using HUGE bowls and layering the bottom with the spring salad mix and tomatoes.

5. Next, we added a layer of magret de canard...

6. ... and topped this with another layer of salad, followed by the cooked potatoes.

7. Then added the cheese...

8. ...prosciutto...

9. ... and then the magret de canard and potatoes.

10. Finally, we topped it with a soft-boiled egg and the dressing.

We served it with champagne to complete the French experience ;)

My version, sans meat:

Me, not sure what to expect:

SB looking happy with his creation:

And yes, SB did finish his whole HUGE salad:

Overall, this was a quite delicious salad. I liked the warm egg and potatoes , which made it a very hearty meal (even without meat). I think that for us Canadian meat-eaters (and the budget-conscious), just one of the meats would suffice, but what do I know?! I will definitely be making this again, on another special occasion.