Salad composée

It's the start of summer salad season. We're not getting our vegetables yet, but it's warm enough to feel like having a nice salad for dinner, with maybe a little wine and cheese afterwards. My standard summer salad ideal comes from this recipe, that appeared in the NY Times a few years ago. We don't often put everything in, but tuna on greens with a homemade mustard vinaigrette and whatever else we have is common enough.

Somehow, it doesn't work in February.

Salade Niçoise
(Adapted from ''French Provincial Cooking,'' by Elizabeth David)
1 head bibb or Boston lettuce
1 12-ounce can or jar imported tuna in olive oil
12 small new potatoes, cooked until tender and halved
1 cup green beans, ends trimmed and cooked until tender
½ red bell pepper, seeded and julienned
1 6-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
2 firm ripe tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and halved lengthwise
6 anchovy fillets
12 black olives, pitted and sliced
Handful of capers
3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon mixed chopped herbs, like chervil and chives.

1. Quarter the lettuce through the root end. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Place each quarter on a large plate or in a shallow bowl. Drain the tuna and place in a bowl; flake into bite-size pieces with a fork and scatter over the lettuce. Next, scatter the potatoes, beans, pepper, artichoke hearts and tomatoes. Arrange an egg half to the side of each plate. Sprinkle the dish with the anchovies, olives and capers.

2. Mix the vinegar, mustard and garlic in a bowl. Whisk in the oil until thickened. Season with the salt, pepper and herbs. Drizzle over salads. Serve.

Yield: 4 servings.