Devilled Eggs With Salade Nicoise

Ingredients:

6 boiled eggs

100 gms canned tuna

½ cup of chopped black olives

½ onion finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 large de-seeded tomato chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Anchovies (optional)

1 tsp capers (optional)

Bunch of fresh parsley

Large basil or rocket or butter lettuce leaves for garnish

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Devilled eggs are a traditional Easter brunch staple. The word ‘devil’ usually referred to making something quite spicy with mustard or chili flakes or pepper and traditional devilled are made by mashing up the yolks with herbs like dill and garlic and mayonnaise and cream which is quite evil in itself. Nicoise salad features the boiled egg and here, we skip on the steamed French beans and potatoes (though you can still serve those on the side).

Cut each boiled egg in half, longitudinally with a non-serrated knife. Gently scoop out the yolks (Reserve the whites and the salad leaves) and combine them with the rest of the salad ingredients. Mix it all well and adjust seasoning. Capers are seasoning too. Now carefully place one or two small salad leaves in each egg-white-cup and then pile a teaspoon of salad on top. Fingers actually work with more precision here than cutlery. Serve on a bed of lettuce with steamed beans and potatoes and offer chili flakes or Tabasco sauce to give your devilled eggs some fire.