By Daniel Kenney

Our inspiration for this salad at Dahlia Restaurant in downtown Vancouver comes from my idea of using more good, fresh, and healthy ingredients. Using fresh ingredients is key—it adds to the vibrance of the salad. We add a bit of tanginess and spices by adding a house-blended togarashi mixed with espelette pepper to stay true to our French-inspired menu. We then lightly sear the tuna and quickly blast-chill it. All of this is tied together with a perfectly-cooked egg; a simple shallot vinaigrette made with cold-pressed olive oil makes this dish really come to life.

It’s a perfect marriage of flavours on one plate.

Ingredients

Tuna

• 1 pound ahi tuna loin
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• Tuna spice blend (crushed peppercorns, espelette pepper powder, hemp seeds, white and black sesame seeds, lemon rind, ginger powder)

Salad

• 1 pound haricot beans, trimmed
• 4 shallots, cut into quarters
• 8 heirloom tomatoes, cut into halves
• 8 boiled and cooled baby potatoes, cut into halves
• 4 eggs, boiled for seven minutes and halved
• Baby gem lettuce leaves, washed and dried

Shallot vinaigrette

• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon wildflower honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

Prepare the tuna

• Pat-dry the tuna with paper towels
• Rub the tuna spice blend generously over the tuna loin, ensuring it coats all sides
• Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat
• Sear the tuna for about one to two minutes on each side for a rare to medium-rare doneness
• Set aside to rest before slicing

Blanch the haricot beans

• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil
• Add the trimmed haricot beans and cook for two to three minutes, until they are bright green and crisp-tender
• Drain and immediately plunge the beans into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process
• Drain again and set aside

Prepare the shallot binaigrette

• In a small bowl, whisk together the finely chopped shallots, lemon juice, salt, and honey until well combined
• Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until the vinaigrette emulsifies
• Adjust seasoning to taste

Assemble the salad

• Toss the beans, heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, and shallot quarters in half the quantity of shallot vinaigrette
• Arrange the baby gem lettuce leaves on four serving plates
• Place the sliced tuna on top of the salad
• Add the eggs
• Drizzle the remaining shallot vinaigrette over the salad
• Serve cold