Lunchbox: Tuna, Tomato & Haricot Verts with Mustard Vinaigrette

This week's sandwich alternative comes by way of my new Martha cookbook and by my being sadly seduced by the bizarrely warm weather into thinking it was summer enough to make it. As luck would have it, the climate turned over the weekend, and today I ate my lunch at my desk staring at errant snow flurries.
Ultimately, I've decided that while the haricot verts make an acceptable workday lunch, they are far better suited to not traveling and being served still warm-ish, instead of needing to be refrigerated and sort-of-brought-to-room-temp. In addition, the tuna was frozen and thawed, which was good because it was cheaper and easier (you can thaw as much as you need at a time, and cook up a bit at a time throughout the week instead of all at once so it’s not gross still eating this on Friday) and still tasty, but I have to confess to being utterly superficial here. Tuna when not pumped full of all sorts of weird preserving things changes color when frozen. I suppose I should be grateful that I didn’t ingest all the weird preserving things, and know that it’s natural and good and all that, but a little (ok, a lot) of me can’t help but feel that this would be so much more appealing with tuna seared just so on the outside and left all red and rare on the inside even if it's through artificial means. So overall chalk this up to experience, and when actual summer comes around I'll try it again.

However, the mustard vinaigrette is really freaking good - I don't think I've ever wanted to eat green beans so much in my life, and for that it's bloggable. Martha's version didn't have quite enough mustard or vinegar for me, but with some adjustments I wanted to lick the bowl. Yum.

TUNA, TOMATO AND HARICOT VERTS WITH MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE
adapted from Martha Stewart's Living Annual Recipes 2005

1 lb tuna fillets
2 lbs frozen haricot verts
2-3 good-size ripe tomatoes
2 large shallots
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/4 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
8 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat a nonstick pan over high heat. Pat the tuna dry and spray with nonstick cook spray or lightly brush with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sear the tuna on both sides until cooked to desired doneness(if serving right away, go rare; if it needs to travel, medium-rare - it will hold up better). Remove to a plate.
Finely chop the shallot and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the red wine vinegar and let sit for fifteen minutes. Whisk in the mustard. Whisk in the olive oil, one teaspoon at a time.
Place the haricot verts in a large dish with several tablespoons of water. Cover and microwave on high for about seven minutes until cooked but still crisp. Drain well. Seed the tomatoes and dice them, or dice them and leave in a colander for several minutes to drain off some of the water.
Mix the haricot verts with the vinaigrette gently in a bowl. Add in the tuna and tomatoes and sprinkle with additional vinegar to taste.
Yields a workweek's worth of lunches.