Not quite nicoise

I've been staring at a nicoise salad for months. My preferred lunchtime sandwich joint has a big platter of it on display, and every time I find myself mesmerised by all the olives and potatoes and green beans. The only thing is I don't do tuna, so I spend my lunchtimes staring into the cold cabinet, thinking about how much I would like a nicoise salad instead of a sandwich, and what I might do to make my dream nicoise a reality.

After a lot of odd-looking lunchtime cabinet staring, I thought I might try a version of my favourite potato salad, which I found through Chocolate & Zucchini a while ago. It involves small, roast new potatoes dressed in gribiche, a partly emulsified dressing of chopped boiled egg, herbs, cornichons, capers and herbs, which is possibly the greatest combination of things to ever happen to a potato.  Some people hate capers, but I adore them, as many as possible.

So that's the egg part done.  All that was needed were green beans and tomatoes and olives. And I made it, and ate it after a very frustrating day, and it was everything I hoped it would be. A few notes, though: I used a small handful of very small, mild Mount Zero olives, as I was concerned that with pickles, capers, olives and vinegar it might be a bit, well, pickley, but no. Don't hold back on the pickle. There is no such thing as too pickley. Next time I'll use something big and strong and, most importantly, pitted. This also improves significantly on standing - my lunch the next day was incredible.

Not Quite Nicoise
Serves 2.

500g small potatoes (I used wee kipflers)
Fat handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
An egg, hardboiled and cooled
3-4 cornichons
1 heaped tsp of capers, preferably salted, though I used vinegared, rinsed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 rounded tsp dijon mustard
Around 1/3 cup olive oil
Fat handful green beans, trimmed
Couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes, quartered
Big handful strong, big, pitted olives

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Scrub the potatoes well, then put in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, and let boil for a minute or two. Drain and rinse in cold water, then halve lengthwise. Arrange on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Give them a shake, then roast for 15-20 minutes until golden and delicious looking.

In the meantime, peel and halve the egg. Scoop out the yolk, and mash, in a smallish bowl, with the mustard. Add the capers, then chop the cornichons and egg white up into pieces roughly the same size as your capers. Add the parsley, then vinegar. Beat the mixture thoroughly, then whisk in the olive oil. I like to leave mine a little chunky, but you can beat it almost smooth.

By then the potatoes should be done. Remove them to a large bowl. Bring a small pan of water to boil and blanch the green beans for a minute or until bright.  Drain and rinse with cold water. Add the beans to the potatoes, then the tomatoes and olives. Add the gribiche and toss with tongs. Let sit for a minute or two, then enjoy the pickliness.