Niçoise Salad

Niçoise Salad is a perfect, show-stopping salad for your next summer get together. It's easy, delicious, refreshing, and most of all stunningly beautiful! You can prepare all the components ahead of time to make it a cinch to put together before your guests arrive.

Niçoise Salad is essentially the French version of a Cobb Salad. It originated in Nice on the Medeterranian Sea. There are countless versions of this salad even in France so you really can mix up the components to include your favourites or what's best in season. Classically the salad contains tomatoes, eggs, green beans, potatoes, olives and anchovies. I have included a few extra things.

olives

Since this salad originated in Nice the olives of choice are Niçoise, of course. If you have trouble finding them just substitute with any of your favourites. I used good quality Greek Kalamatas and some soft and sweet Italian Castelvetranos.

tuna

Then there's the tuna. I prefer to use top quality jarred or canned tuna packed in olive oil. The best are imported from Spain or Italy. Be sure to buy tuna packed in olive oil for this salad. Packed in water will just be dry and yuck. Just don't do it. If you really want to kick this salad up a notch feel free to pan sear or grill a fresh tuna steak and slice thinly.

In the photo above I've included 2 examples of good tuna that are fairly easy to find. The anchovies are for the vinaigrette (more on that later) and large, juicy capers.

potatoes & green beans

The potatoes are boiled with a few aromatics such as rosemary, onion, whole peppercorns and a whack of salt. This infuses them with some extra flavour. Once the potatoes are cooked they go directly into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Remove the potatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon so you can use the same water to blanch the beans.

The beans get a flash blanch to take the raw-ness out but still leaving a nice crunch. Drain and add to an ice water bath to stop the cooking and maintain a vibrant green colour. You can add them in with the potatoes but you may need to add some extra ice to make sure it's nice and cold.

eggs

Let's talk about eggs for a minute. I love eggs. In fact, I would call myself an eggoholic. I eat them almost every day and have tried every "hack" out there to make easily peeled boiled eggs. So trust me when I say that this is the best way to do it. You take cold eggs and put them directly into one inch of boiling water so they steam rather than boil. Steam for the desired doneness. Remove from water and put directly into a very cold water bath. The coldest tap water works just fine. The drastic change in temperature both at the beginning and the end is what separates the membrane from the shell. This makes them easier to peel. I cooked mine for 7 minutes. If you prefer a firmer yolk you can add 1-2 minutes.

vinaigrette

This vinaigrette is a twist on traditional. Honestly, when it comes to Niçoise Salad there are as many variations of the vinaigrette as there are with the salad itself. For me the most important thing is that it's "punchy". I like to achieve this by adding anchovy fillets. Traditionally a Niçoise Salad has whole or chopped anchovy fillets as one of the salad components. Personally, I'm not a fan of biting into a chunk of anchovy so instead I put them in the vinaigrette. If the thought of anchovies makes you squeemish you can leave them out but trust me they really take this vinaigrette to new heights. It doesn't taste fishy I promise. Whole fillets in olive oil are best. The flavour is more mild and subtle. Just mash them up with a fork or chop fine before adding into the other ingredients.

I mix everything together and store in a mason jar. When you add fresh herbs, shallots, anchovies etc. to a vinaigrette you should store it in the fridge. It will keep for a month so make some extra! Run the jar under hot tap water to bring it back to room temperature before using.

PRO TIPS FOR BEST RESULTS

• Gather the freshest produce you can find. Don't be afraid to steer from the traditional vegetables if you feel like something different. For example asparagus would be a lovely substitute for the beans
• Use Niçoise olives if you can find them or substitute Kalamata olives or any of your favourite quality varieties.
• Use good quality tuna packed in olive oil. The best ones come from Spain or Italy. Fillets in a jar are nicer for presentation but canned works just fine too.
• Include some aromatics to your potato water to infuse some extra flavour.
• Blanch the beans in the same water you used for the potatoes.
• Use oil packed anchovy fillets to punch up your vinaigrette. Don't be afraid to add any and all the fresh herbs!
• Store your vinaigrette in a mason jar so you can just shake it up before you pour it over your lovely salad. Make extra and store it in the fridge for up to a month. It's delicious on any salad or grilled vegetables.
• Line your serving plate or platter with fresh salad greens.

📖 Recipe