In spring, we are blessed with an abundance of fresh seasonal greens and vegetables in our area, and we encourage you to mix and match your favorites in this salad, as you desire. We used petite radish, celery leaves, Tokyo turnips, pea tendrils, kale shoots, chervil and chives from our farm in Philo.
Prepare all three sauces, the salad greens and vegetables and the quail eggs in advance, then hold for plating once the tuna is grilled and you are ready to serve
FOR THE STINGING NETTLE PISTOU
Blanch the stinging nettles (always use gloves when handling stinging nettles!) and the spinach for about 10 seconds, then drain and quickly place in ice water to stop the cooking and shock the produce into a vibrant green.
Squeeze out as much water as possible and put all leaves in a blender. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
You may add some cold water if the consistency is a bit thick.
Season to taste with the salt.
FOR THE NIÇOISE OLIVE TAPENADE
Finely chop the first 6 ingredients, then fold together with the olive oil and sherry vinegar.
FOR THE MEYER LEMON VINAIGRETTE
Place all ingredients except the oil into a small bowl and whisk together. Slowly drizzle in the oil in a steady stream, constantly whisking until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt, as needed.
FOR THE SALAD GREENS
Choose 4 generous handfuls of your favorite spring greens, then wash and spin dry.
FOR THE QUAIL EGGS
Hard-boil 4 quail eggs as you would chicken eggs, but for 3 minutes only. Remove from the boiling water and immediately plunge into cold water. Carefully peel when cooled. Slice in half just before plating.
FOR THE TUNA
Bring the tuna to room temperature, then brush with olive oil and lightly salt with the finely ground sea salt.
Grill over a gas or charcoal grill to medium rare. Grill on both sides, taking care not to overcook—the middle should be rare.
Remove from the grill and sprinkle With flak salt lemon zest and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
TO PLATE AND SERVE
Place a pool of pistou in the center of 4 plates. Slice the tuna into 4 portions and place a serving on top of the pistou on each plate.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the tapenade on top of each serving of tuna and top with a single quail egg, sliced in half.
Toss the seasonal greens and vegetables in the vinaigrette and place around the tuna.
Recipe courtesy of Chef Ryan Fancher, Barndiva, Healdsburg
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