San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Classic French sauce stars in this salad
Crunchy raw snap peas, jammy eggs, mustard vinaigrette offer a fresh take on gribiche
I recently have become more acutely aware that, for some people, making a simple, nutritious and delicious lunch is difficult or just downright joyless. This probably should not be a shock to me. There’s a whole world out there of people who hire private chefs for this very reason, and maybe there are other reasons that I’m not aware of but are surely valid.
Even as I empathize, however, I also aim to persuade. I want to share an easy lunch salad I recently made for myself that surprised me at how good — and simple, but seemingly luxurious — it was. It might give you the extra oomph you need to open that fridge when you don’t feel like cooking. And you might have most of the ingredients on hand anyway.
I’m calling this salad Gribiche & Snap Pea Salad because it’s inspired by the classic French sauce. But rather than just being a sauce here, it’s also the main part of this hearty salad.
Gribiche is quite straightforward actually. It usually starts with an emulsification (whisking until the ingredients become creamy and one) of mustard, vinegar and olive oil. From there something briny like cornichons or capers is stirred in along with chopped boiled eggs and perhaps an herb. It’s creamy, tangy, full of eggy-rich protein bits and lots of flavor. It’s great on potatoes, asparagus and something lean like roasted fish.
In this week’s case, it’s also great tossed with crunchy raw snap peas that contrast the supple eggs. Usually gribiche is bound to go with anything but leafy greens, but this chunkier, snap pea version is the perfect foil for a bed of tender lettuces and fresh mint leaves. I don’t veer too far off tradition; I am no radical gribiche philosopher. Most of those above ingredients are in my recipe, too.
However, I like to get nice fresh eggs from the farmers market if I can, especially now since fresh eggs are abundant. I then boil those eggs for less time than usual, leaving the eggs not quite fully set. Some would call this a jammy texture.
I also like to cut or chop the eggs into slightly bigger pieces than normal, which works nicely for this salad, because it makes the gribiche less like a sauce and more like a chunkier egg salad. Lemon juice gives it a brilliant lightness, too, and feels more spring-y than just vinegar.
Once the gribiche is made, I simply add it to undressed greens and herbs. (Since the gribiche is saucy enough to coat those greens, no other dressing is needed.) It’s quite a simple lunch that only begs for a crusty piece of bread. It’s also a lunch that I believe you can absolutely make for yourself, even if you don’t want to, and you will be proud of the results.