This salad originated in Nice, France, which is where it gets its name... Salade Niçoise. This is a substantial salad with proteins, veggies, and a nice salty bite. Why do I love it? You know the answer; because you can make all kinds of substitutions and it is delicious every time!
This salad is hearty enough to eat as a cool dinner on a warm summer evening or as a filling lunch. Give it a try!
The Basics
Traditionally this salad will contain tomatoes, boiled eggs, potatoes, green beans, olives, and tuna. If you have those elements (or something similar), you can make a delicious Nicoise Salad. This is a great way to use up leftovers! Have leftover fish, potatoes, and veggies? Turn them into a completely different meal by making this wonderful salad!
Sometimes the ingredients listed above are simply served with a drizzle of vinaigrette, sometimes they are served over salad greens. I prefer a small amount of salad greens, but if you don't like lettuce, you can skip the greens altogether.
Watch Me Make It
The Recipe
The ingredient amounts depend on how many salads you are making and how big the appetites.
Ingredients
Salad Greens, lightly dressed in lemon mustard vinaigrette (plus extra vinaigrette to drizzle over the finished salad)
Baby Potatoes
Green Beans
Tomatoes
Radishes, cleaned and quartered
Boiled Eggs (at least 1 per salad)
Canned tuna, drained (consider drizzling tuna with olive oil and adding salt & pepper)
Olives & Capers
Fresh Herbs
Olive Oil
Instructions
Boil your eggs to your preferred doneness, let cool in an ice water bath, then peel.
Cook potatoes. Boil them until a fork inserts in easily. Allow to cool, then toss with olive oil and fresh dill.
Blanch the green beans. I do this right in the boiling potato water. Just dip the beans into the water for about 30-60 seconds, then place them in cold water to stop the cooking process, and dry on a towel.
Slice or chop your tomatoes.
Make up a vinaigrette. Watch this video to learn more, but a simple vinaigrette made from white vinegar, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and olive oil is all you need.
Dress your greens and divide them among the plates.
Assemble - simply place piles of each ingredient on top of the greens, drizzle with a little dressing, and top with chopped fresh herbs like dill, parsley, and/or basil.
Variations
There are several ways you could change this up and still maintain the concept of a Nicoise Salad.
The Greens - any green can work here. I prefer something mild in flavor (vs strong-flavored arugula or beet greens) because the salad already has a lot of flavor. I often use either baby greens, romaine, or green leaf lettuce.
Or, skip the greens altogether.
The Potatoes - boiled potatoes are typical, but you can also use leftover potato salad, salt potatoes, baked potatoes, home fries, etc.
The Green Beans - the only thing to consider is this is a cold salad, so any veggie that tastes okay cold/room temperature can work here. I like substituting with whatever veggie I have on hand, such as blanched asparagus, raw zucchini spears, cucumbers, or even blanched broccoli. Plus you can also add in additional veggies. I'm a huge fan of radishes on my Nicoise salad and artichoke hearts are yummy too!
The Tomatoes - I think this salad looks lovely with halved red grape tomatoes, you could use yellow tomatoes, quartered cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, or chopped-up slicing tomatoes. You could also take things up a level by roasting up some cherry tomatoes and using those. Check out this recipe.
The Eggs - while boiled eggs are standard for this salad, you can skip the egg or cook the egg differently. Fried eggs are perfect, but you could also do a poached egg, a scoop of scrambled egg, or even half of a small 2-egg omelet.
The Tuna - good canned tuna is all you really need. You can take it up a level by drizzling the tuna with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. However, you can really elevate your tuna game by using grilled ahi tuna in its place.
OR, use a different fish like grilled cod, shrimp, or smoked salmon. You could also use canned sardines and still be authentic, as these are common substitutions.
I have also seen Nicoise Salad made vegan/vegetarian by substituting a bean such as Navy Beans or Cannellini Beans for the fish. You could also use both the fish and the beans to increase the protein level of the salad.
I encourage you to give this salad a try. Enjoy the variety you can achieve by making substitutions and playing around with ingredients! I think this will soon become one of your favorite salads!
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