Niçoise Salad: A Dish Made for Summer

If you’ve been reading here for a while, you’ll have noticed that I have a love for classic dishes, tried and true warhorses that don’t get a lot of play on today’s trendy menus. I have a lot of great memories of coming up as a cook in the 90’s preparing these dishes. I get a real sense of pride and satisfaction in refining them and sharing them with people.

One such dish is the Niçoise Salad, a salad I’ve prepared in many ways, in many different kitchens. It’s the perfect example of a hearty summer salad, meant to be eaten outdoors. It’s light enough to be a lunch or a dinner and it’s super easy to prepare. All the ingredients compliment each other so well, so it’s not hard to nail this one.

As with any dish, the real trick is to focus on making sure each ingredient is prepared properly before bringing them all together. Make sure the eggs aren’t overcooked, and that they’re peeled and well-chilled. Cook the potatoes gently and chill them as well. Blanch the green beans in heavily salted water until they’re just tender-crisp, then shock them in ice water and blot them on paper towels. This way they won’t get soggy.

Don’t skimp on the anchovies in this dish, they really make it. A lot of people think they don’t like anchovies. I blame the 90’s. The Ninja Turtles LOVED pizza in all its forms, and yet even they balked at the thought of anchovies. Stupid shell-heads. Leonardo may lead, and Donatello did indeed know machines, but they didn’t know jack about flavours.

A trend (if such a word can be associated with the Niçoise Salad) I’ve seen a lot of is to use raw or seared “sushi-quality” tuna. This is usually bluefin or bigeye tuna, which isn’t the most sustainable choice these days. Instead, I really think that using high-quality canned tuna is the way to go with this dish. It’s closer to the spirit of the original and the flakes of canned tuna more easily distribute themselves into the salad, making more composed bites easier.

While it may seem like you’d need two or three pots of simmering water on the stove for this dish, you don’t. Who wants all that extra heat in the summertime? While it takes a bit longer, I re-use the same pot for each application. First, I simmer my eggs in it. While the eggs chill and wait to be peeled, I cook the potatoes. And as the potatoes cool in a strainer, finally I cook the green beans. In between you can get everything else for the salad ready, or just chill on the couch within earshot of your kitchen timer.

Are we ready? Let’s git it:

Niçoise Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg per person eating the salad
• 350g (12oz) fingerling or marble potatoes
• 1-2 bay leaves (fresh is best)
• 400g (14oz) green beans, stems snapped off
• 100g (3.5oz) red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 255g (1pt) grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 150g (5oz) Niçoise or Kalamata olives, pitted if you wish
• 50g (1 tin) anchovies, blotted on paper towels (*optional, reserve the oil*)
• 120g (1 tin) flaked white tuna in olive oil, drained (*optional, reserve the oil*)
• As much or as little mixed greens as you like to buff out the salad
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely minced
• 14g (1 TBSP) Dijon mustard
• 100 mL (6 TBSP) red wine vinegar
• 300 mL (1.2 cups) extra virgin olive oil *(or, if using reserved oil from canned fish, enough to come to 300 mL combined)
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Fill a medium-sized pot ¾ full of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, carefully lower the eggs into the water. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to very low and let the eggs cook for 14 minutes. Once cooked, transfer the eggs into a bowl of ice water and let cool completely.
2. Rinse the pot and put the potatoes in it, along with a hefty pinch of salt. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by 2 inches, add the bay leaves and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook until the potatoes offer little to no resistance to a skewer or knife 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander, letting them steam dry. Discard the bay leaves.
3. Rinse the pot yet again, fill ¾ full with water and another hefty pinch of salt and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the green beans, in batches if necessary, so as not to lose the boil as they are added. Cook until crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes per batch, before straining the beans out with a skimmer or slotted spoon into a waiting ice bath. Once the beans are cooled, lay them out on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Set aside in the fridge.
4. Carefully peel the eggs under cold running water. The stream of water helps to get in between egg and shell, loosening the two from each other and making peeling easier. Place the peeled eggs in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until quite chilled.
5. Place the onion, tomatoes and olives into a large serving bowl and gently toss together.
6. Finely mince the blotted anchovies and add them to the bowl.
7. Slice the potatoes into thin coins or small wedges and add to the bowl.
8. Slice the green beans on a heavy bias into two or three pieces each. Add to the bowl and toss gently to combine.
9. Add the drained tuna to the bowl, followed by the greens. Toss gently.
10. Make the vinaigrette. Combine the shallot, mustard and vinegar in the jug of a food processor or blender. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the machine on and slowly drizzle in the olive oil (or combination of olive oils) until a stable emulsion has formed. Taste and adjust seasoning of the vinaigrette.
11. Toss the salad gently with the vinaigrette, drizzling it over the mixture little by little so as not to overdress. Taste and adjust the salads seasoning as needed.
12. Halve the chilled eggs, seasoning the cut side with salt and pepper. Either toss them into the salad, or arrange on plates and serve the salad onto them.

It may seem like a lot, but you’ll be surprised just how quickly this all comes together. It’s a classic for a reason, everything just works together so well, and for just a tiny bit of effort, you get a salad that always impresses. It’s a crowd-pleaser, proving the theory that things from Nice are always nice.