Pan Bagnant is a favorite French sandwich that literally means “bathed bread”. This popular sandwich is usually filled with many vibrant vegetables, hard boiled egg, canned tuna and then the bread is soaked in a zesty vinaigrette. With so many beautiful, nutrient dense ingredients, I thought it might be fun to deconstruct this sandwich and serve it as a salad. I roasted the peppers but you can use jarred roasted peppers instead. The dressing elevates an otherwise ordinary salad to an outstanding dish.
Provençal Tuna Salad
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
SALAD
- 1 can tuna packed in olive oil drained
- 1/2 cup assorted olives pitted
- 2-3 tablespoons capers rinsed
- 4 hard boiled eggs or cooked to your liking*
- 2 jarred roasted red peppers sliced
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup baby kale leaves or baby spinach leaves
- 1 medium English cucumber sliced on the diagonal
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
VINAIGRETTE
- 1/4 cup extra-vigin olive oil
- 3-4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
- 1 tablespoon capers rinsed
- 3-4 mixed olives pitted
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- *To make the perfect hard boiled eggs, cover 4 eggs with cold water in a small saucepan. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. Turn the heat off, cover the pot and set a timer for 10 minutes. Take a bowl and fill with ice cubes and cold water. Once the ten minutes have passed transfer the eggs to the icy cold water for another 5 minutes. The shells should be easy to remove. If the peeling is tricky, try peeling while running under cold water.
- To make the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a small food processor or blender. Blend until the ingredients are almost smooth, about a minute or so. Assemble your salad on a serving platter or toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and dress with the vinaigrette.