Shortcuts: Celebrating 'Julia' with a take on her own recipe

I can hardly wait for the Aug. 7 release date of the movie "Julie & Julia," based on Julie Child's memoire, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams!

I love watching and reading anything that has to do with cooking -- excluding "Hell's Kitchen," that is ... and the rats running the kitchen in Pixar's animated "Ratatouille" was a bit off-putting.

In honor of Child, I've created a Tuscan spin on her favorite salad, Salad Nicoise, as documented in her book "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom." Initially, Salad Nicoise consists of carefully blanched fresh green beans, halved hard-boiled eggs, ripe red tomatoes and black olives all fortified by chunks of tuna and anchovies drizzled with a delicate vinaigrette on a foundation of crisp butter lettuce.

I've saved time by replacing the green beans with canned white beans, eliminating the need for blanching. I prefer great Northern beans over cannellini beans; I find their skins are more tender.

For those who abhor the appearance of anchovies, I incorporated them into the salad dressing -- out of sight, out of mind. As an option, I substituted cooked, cold pasta for salad greens. Sorry, Julia.

Salad Nicoise is generally served like Cobb salad where ingredients are composed on a plate or bed of greens as opposed to being tossed. Suit yourself.

The Avocado/Salmon S alad recipe was created out of necessity. I grabbed one of my single serving salmon cups (available at Bloom and Target) when I was craving egg or chicken salad to stuff in a ripe tomato and neither protein was in reach. I love these handy salmon portions on top of cottage cheese with a sprinkle of dill -- for breakfast.

A ripe avocado was in view, a stalk of celery for crunch, green onion and a splash of lemon would do the trick. Yum! Successful and in my book, more desirable than tuna!

Canned salmon may be used in the first recipe if you prefer but I strongly recommend the nicoise salad for outdoor gatherings because it does not require mayonnaise.

NOVEAUX NICOISE

2 (8-ounce) cans tuna in water, well drained

4 cups of cold, cooked bowtie pasta or salad greens

1 (15.5-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup pitted black olives

2 medium tomatoes, diced

2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced or quartered for plating

Dressing:

2 rinsed anchovies (optional)

1 small shallot, minced

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

In large bowl combine, tuna, pasta, beans, olives and tomatoes. In small bowl, mash anchovies, if using, and blend with shallot, mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, sugar and seasonings. Pour over pasta mixture and toss well. Top with hard boiled eggs before serving. Serves eight.

AVOCADO/SALMON SALAD for ONE

1 (2.8-ounce) single serving salmon (approximately1/3 cup)

1/2 ripe avocado, diced

1 small stalk celery, sliced

1 green onion, sliced thin

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Splash of lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and stuff into a ripe tomato or serve on a lettuce leaf with a wedge of lemon.

Mary Ann Kauchak lives in Lake Ridge. Her third cookbook, "SHORTCUTS, TOO" is available at Mom's Apple Pie in Occoquan. She can be reached at makauchak@comcast.net.