Salade Niçoise

My running break is over. Thank goodness for that. It lasted about 2 1/2 weeks. I am not sure if it was enough to recover physically from the strains of a very long season. Probably not. But I couldn’t sit at home and/or cross train any longer. While I enjoyed the rowing machine in the gym as a cardio alternative and as a good whole-body workout, it’s not the same as running. Running is where my heart is.

Those 2 1/2 weeks were surely enough to make that clear again. In terms of motivation, it worked wonders. No race in the near future was planned anyway, as I decided not to participate in the Berlin marathon in September for which training would have started now. This decision was very deliberating, as I would have a whole long summer of just leisurely runs, as many or few as I wanted, as long or short as I wanted, just for the fun of it.

However, my leisurely summer running plan had to be abandoned at short notice. For a 10k race tonight. It’s Ramadan. Here in Dubai eating and drinking is not allowed in public from sunrise to sunset. Naturally, all activities are scheduled between dusk and dawn. Like this crazy 10k race tonight. Start time is 1015pm, and huge prize money is involved. While there will not be any international elite runners, there will be prizes worth 1 million Dirhams (that’s 200.000 EUR or 270.000 USD), and rumour has it that a few Mini Cooper cars have been thrown into the prizes too. The six categories include both male and female Emirati club runner, expat club runner, social runners and kids under 16.

That all sounds great, and if they spread the prizes over the first 10 of each category, I might stand a chance. Now the downside: it’s the middle of summer in Dubai and temperatures at 9-10pm are still around 38C/100F. Not exactly ideal conditions to run 10k. Perhaps even a dangerously long distance for the untrained runner.

When I picked up my race pack last night, I saw who else signed up. The Who is Who of the Dubai running scene will be there. Gold diggers!!!!…… And I am one of them. Although I really will only have a chance if the Top 10 gets prizes.

So wish me luck. I’ll keep you posted. Until then I leave you with our current family’s favorite summer salad: Salade Niçoise. My favorite lunchtime salad if we eat out, as it is light enough for hot Dubaian summer days, yet has enough substance to be a main dish with the addition of potatoes, eggs and tuna. I hope you enjoy.
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SALADE NICOISE

(Print Recipe)

2 medium potatoes
150g/6oz green beens, trimmed

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
150g/6oz tinned Albacore tuna, drained

1/2 cup cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup radishes, sliced
1/4 cup black olives

2-4 anchovy fillets

Lemon Mustard Dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2
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Scrub the potatoes, and with the skin on, cut them into chunks. Cook them in boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, steam the green beans, until just tender but still crisp, approx. 4-5 minutes. Put the beans into a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. That way you keep the green color. Once cooled, drain and put aside.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the dressing. Whisk vigorously until well combined. Set aside.

Assemble potatoes, green beans, quartered eggs, tuna and salad ingredients next to each other on a plate. Sprinkle over the black olives and place the anchovy fillets onto the potatoes. . Drizzle over the lemon mustard dressing. Ready to eat.

TIP: all ingredients can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge for up to 12 hours before assembling.