Today’s post is full of Easter eggs—literally and figuratively.
After the baby goes to bed, we usually wind up watching TV. In anticipation of the upcoming season, we’ve been watching quite a bit of Thrones Lore and Season 8 Easter Egg YouTube videos. I never said I was cool.
One of the videos got me really thinking. The Night King’s ice sword (the one that disintegrated the Three Eyed Raven) can only be matched by Jon’s magical fire sword. How are we going to get Jon’s sword to light on fire. According to the prophecy, it has something to do with Nissa Nissa.
Is Melisandre Nissa Nissa? Will Jon Snow have to stab her in the heart with Lightbringer in order to create a weapon that can defeat the Night King? Or is Nissa Nissa Dany? I mean, she already gets called Misa, so we’re really only a consonant sound off already. I think it would be too heavy-handed if Jon has to kill Dany, but let’s be honest. Sometimes GOT lacks subtlety. Cue: Jon riding a dragon.
We’re almost out of episodes, so this whole Nissa Nissa business needs to be addressed in the few episodes. Which brings us to tonight’s recipe: Nissa Nicoise salad. Check out these Easter eggs that I dyed to look like Dany’s dragon eggs!
Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes
INGREDIENTS
Vinaigrette
1/3 cup lemon juice or red wine vinegar
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano or tarragon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salad
2 grilled or otherwise cooked tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 2-3 cans of tuna
6 hard boiled DRAGON eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1 1/4 pounds small young red potatoes or fingerling potatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup niçoise olives
2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and/or several anchovies (optional)
METHOD
*Marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, or place on a hot grill. Cook the steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
1. Make vinaigrette: In a jar, place the oil, lemon juice or vinegar, shallots, herbs, and mustard. Cover with a lid and shake until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Marinate onion slices in some of the vinaigrette: Place onion slices in a small bowl and sprinkle with 3 Tbsp of the vinaigrette. (The onions soaking in the vinaigrette will help take some of the bite out of them.)
3. Cook the potatoes, cut, and dress with vinaigrette: Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Add 1 Tbsp of salt. Heat on high to bring to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes or so, until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain.
While the potatoes are still warm, cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the potatoes.
Place them in a bowl and dress them with about 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette.
4. Boil the green beans in salted water: While the potatoes are cooking, fill a medium sized pot halfway with water, and add 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil on high heat. Add the green beans to the boiling water.
Cook until tender but still firm to the bite, about 3-5 minutes (more or less, depending on the toughness of the beans).
Drain and either rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, or shock for half a minute in ice water.
5. Arrange on a bed of lettuce: Arrange bed of lettuce on a serving platter. Cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices. Mound tuna in center of lettuce. Sprinkle the tomatoes and onions around the tuna.
Arrange the potatoes and green beans in mounds at the edge of the lettuce.
Arrange hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in mounds on the lettuce bed.
6. Drizzle everything with the remaining vinaigrette. Sprinkle with capers if using.
Serve immediately. Should be served slightly warm or at room temperature.
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I asked my GOT text thread who they thought was Nissa Nissa. I was looking for bold predictions, but instead, I got the following responses:
- Don’t bring the books into this. No source material!
- It’s too late in the game to introduce the Nissa Nissa prophecy. How would they explain everything?
- Maybe Dany is Nissan Sentra
Okay.
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Well, next week is my birthday, so I’m taking the week off from cooking. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be a blog and party food. You better believe there will be!
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