Salade Niçoise

By bodanzarama

I love to make salade Niçoise because it takes very little time at the stove (Plus, I can use the same pot to boil beans and then potatoes) and it's a meal in itself. Leafy greens, potato for carbs, and protein in the form of tuna, eggs and anchovies. My salad has almost all of the traditional components of this famous salad. I did not, however, have Niçoise olives. They are very expensive and I already had an olive mix on hand. I also didn't want to drive to the only farmer's market open on Friday for tomatoes. And even the heirlooms I bought recently in a store tasted like nothing. As for capers, we love them. But the salad had enough salty stuff. I feel I have a better than fair representation of Niçoise salad. Besides, with a dish like this, the ingredients will be debated until the end of time. Anyone seeing the salad I have created will recognize it as Niçoise salad even if they disagree with one or two of my ingredients.

Ingredients

• For the salad:
• handful salad greens (or more, if you like)
• two medium red potatoes
• 1/2 lb. green beans
• 4-6 anchovies, flat or rolled, rinsed and drained
• 4-6 hard boiled eggs, halved
• 1 6 oz can of tuna, drained
• olives
• Vinaigrette:
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp minced shallots
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Preparation

Step 1

Boil the potatoes: If you are using baby redskins, simply boil them whole. If not, you will need to cut up the potatoes in slightly larger than bite-sized pieces. Boil them in salted water until just tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

Quick boil the green beans: head and tail the beans then drop them into boiling salted water for only a couple of minutes. Then quickly sink them into ice water to stop the cooking. This way you will retain that brilliant green color. Drain and set aside to cool.

Assemble the salad greens on a plate or platter and then arrange the other ingredients on top of the greens in any fashion you like. Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

It's simple. It's delicious. It's filling. It's a great summer salad with a glass of crisp, white wine.