Warm Salad with Potatoes and Lemon Dressing

After a semester's worth of superb produce, we said our goodbyes to Penn's on-campus farmer's market this afternoon. Though the market will return once more next week before closing until spring, we will be home for Thanksgiving. We decided to plan a fully locally-produced dinner to honor the occasion, and found everything we needed for a mere $7.50! There's probably a joke to be made here about "market price," but I'm an English major ... so yeah.

We love the warm potatoes, string beans, eggs and lemony dressing that compose a salad nicoise -- but we're a bit more lukewarm about the tuna and olive business. We found some beautiful brussel sprouts at the market, and thought it would be interesting to try throwing them into the mix. Since we steamed them for a bit before pan-cooking them in a touch of smart balance and salt, they added a great buttery flavor to the dish. The whole ordeal took about 30 minutes, which was perfect for a busy weeknight (Project Runway Season 4 @ 10, please!). Definitely recommend this.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 head lettuce (romaine, butter lettuce or frisee)
4 hardboiled eggs (we removed the yolks)
2 red potatoes
1 quart brussel sprouts
1/2 1b. string beans
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

for dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp herbs de provence (rosemary and thyme)
salt and pepper

Instructions:
Steam the string beans and brussel sprouts (takes about 10 minutes each). Peel the potatoes and boil them (takes about 15 minutes). Set aside string beans and potatoes. Heat olive oil, and cut the brussel sprouts in half. Cook them in the oil with a pinch of salt and pepper for about three minutes. When the potatoes are cooled, slice them. Slice the hard boiled eggs as well, and add the toppings to the lettuce. For the dressing, just wisk the ingredients together and pour over the salad.