Lamb Niçoise Salad with Potatoes and Fava Beans

Leftover roasted lamb replaces the more typical tuna in this take on the classic Niçoise salad.
Watch the video How to Shell Fava Beans for tips and tricks on how to easily get fava beans out of their tough skins.

For the dressing

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  1 large egg yolk
  
  


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  6 oil-packed anchovies, finely chopped
  
  


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  1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  
  


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  1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  
  


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  1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  
  


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  1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  
  


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  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
  

For the salad

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  1 cup thinly sliced red onion
  
  


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  16 baby potatoes
  
  


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  Kosher salt
  
  


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  2 lb. fava beans in the pod or 1/2 lb. haricots verts
  
  


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  16 cherry tomatoes cut in half
  
  


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  1/4 cup Niçoise olives (about 20)
  
  


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  Freshly ground black pepper
  
  


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  3/4 lb. leftover roasted leg of lamb, thinly sliced
  
  


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  8 large caper berries
  
  

Make the dressing

Put the egg yolk, anchovies, garlic, and mustard in a food processor. With the motor running, gradually add the olive oil and process until the mixture starts to thicken and emulsify (it should have the consistency of heavy cream), about 2 minutes. With the motor still running, add the lemon juice and 1 tsp. hot water. Continue to process until the mixture reaches a soft mayonnaise consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Make the salad

Put the onion in a medium bowl, cover with cold water, and soak for 20 minutes. Drain and pat dry.


Put the potatoes in a large pot of wellsalted water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the potatoes aretender, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and when cool enough to handle, cut them in half. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with the reserved onion and a couple of spoonfuls of the dressing.


Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove the fava beans from their pods and cook them in the boiling water until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Pinch the dull, olive-colored skin and slip each bean out (you should have about 2 cups beans). Discard the skins. (Alternatively, cook the haricots verts in the water until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.)


In a medium bowl, toss the tomatoes with the olives and season with a few grinds of pepper.


Arrange the potatoes and onions, tomatoes and olives, favas, and lamb on a large serving platter. Garnish with the caper berries. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: This recipe contains a raw egg. If that’s a concern, use a pasteurized egg.

Fava Bean Purée

This purée is terrific on crostini, but you can also use it as a dip for vegetables, pita chips, or bread. Like other starchy purées, this will stiffen a bit after it sits, so if using as a dip, you may want to add a little extra olive oil or lemon juice, or just a spoonful of water to loosen it. The purée will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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  1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil; more for drizzling
  
  


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  2 large cloves garlic, chopped
  
  


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  1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary or thyme
  
  


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  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
  


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  3 lb. fava beans, shelled and peeled (see directions in the article "Fresh Favas") to yield 2 cups
  
  


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  2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice; more to taste
  
  

Put a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 cup of the oil, the garlic, rosemary or thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper and cook until you begin to hear a sizzling sound and the aromatics are fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the fava beans. Stir until the beans are well coated with the oil and aromatics and then add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the water has nearly evaporated and the fava beans are tender, about 12 minutes. Add more water if the pan looks dry before the favas are done. Remove from the heat.

Transfer the fava mixture to a food processor. Add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and the lemon juice and purée until smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed. Season to taste with more salt and lemon juice. Drizzle with a little olive oil before serving.

Rice Salad with Asparagus, Favas & Peas

This salad is a celebration of spring, with tender asparagus, fava beans, and peas dotting the chewy grains of rice. It's best to boil the rice in lots of boiling water for salads, like pasta. This way, the grains stay separate and are less apt to turn into a pile of mush. Cook the rice until just al dente and spread it out to cool. Be sure to serve rice salads at room temperature; cold rice is hard and unpleasant.

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  Kosher salt
  
  


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  2 cups arborio, carnaroli, or basmati rice
  
  


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  2 cups shelled English peas
  
  


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  1 lb. fresh green asparagus, tough ends snapped off, and cut at an angle into 1⁄4-inch segments
  
  


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  1-1⁄2 cups shelled fava beans (about 1-1⁄2 pounds fava beans in the pod)
  
  


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  2 shallots, finely diced
  
  


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  2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice; more as needed
  
  


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  2 Tbs. white-wine vinegar
  
  


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  1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed
  
  


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  1⁄4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  
  


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  1⁄4 cup chopped chives
  
  


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  1⁄4 cup roughly chopped chervil
  
  


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  1⁄4 cup roughly chopped mint
  
  


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  Freshly ground black pepper
  
  

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt—it should taste almost like seawater. Add the rice and boil until the grains are just cooked—they should be slightly al dente—about 15 minutes. Drain well and spread the rice on a baking sheet to cool. Set aside at room temperature.

Bring a separate large pot of water to a boil to cook the peas, asparagus, and fava beans. Have a large bowl of ice water ready, and start with the peas. To make this task easier, put the peas in a fine-mesh strainer basket, and submerge the peas and the basket in the water until the peas are just tender, about 2 minutes. Lift the basket out of the water and immediately submerge the peas (still in the strainer basket) in the ice bath until chilled, about 1 minute. Lift the basket out of the ice water and drain the peas well. Transfer the peas to a small bowl, and set aside at room temperature temporarily, or refrigerate and return to room temperature before using.

Repeat the process with the asparagus, cook the asparagus in the strainer basket until just tender, about 2 minutes, then immediately submerge the asparagus in the ice bath until chilled, about 1 minute. Lift the basket out of the ice, drain well, and transfer the asparagus to a small bowl. Set aside at room temperature, or refrigerate and return to room temperature before using.

If necessary, add more ice to the ice bath. Put the fava beans in the strainer basket, and submerge in the boiling water until the beans slip easily out of their skins and are tender, about 2 minutes. (To test the favas, carefully remove a bean from the basket and pierce the outer layer with your thumb, gently squeezing the bean from its skin.) Immediately submerge the beans in the ice water until thoroughly chilled. Pop the beans out of their skins, and set aside temporarily at room temperature, or refrigerate and return to room temperature before using.

To make the vinaigrette, combine the shallot, lemon juice, vinegar, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in the oil. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Shortly before serving, put the rice in a large work bowl, and toss it lightly with your fingers to fluff the grains. Add the vegetables and herbs, and season with salt and a few twists of black pepper. Drizzle the vinaigrette on top and toss lightly to combine. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice, and/or olive oil if necessary. Transfer to a shallow platter or individual serving plates. Serve at room temperature.