Savor the Mediterranean with a Salade Niçoise

Some nights it’s just too hot to cook, am I right? On those evenings, a hearty salad like a Salade Niçoise can provide a quick, easy and nutritious meal. Pair it with a glass of rosé or crisp champagne and you’ll be transported to an evening on the Mediterranean!

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One of our favorite trips was to France. We started off in Paris, made our way down through the Loire Valley, and into Provence then capped things off with a few days in Juan les Pins/Antibes. On a day trip into Nice, we enjoyed a Niçoise salad at one of the many little restaurants that line the Croisette (the half-moon of beach and promenade pictured below). You can capture that “South of France” vibe at home with the recipe below!

Salade Niçoise

Serves 2-3, can be easily doubled.

Ingredients

• butter lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered
• 1 6-ounce jar of tuna, drained
• 1/4 cup pitted Niçoise or Kalamata olives
• 8-10 small red potatoes
• 1/4-1/2 pound haricot verts or thin green beans
• other veggies as desired: tomatoes cut into wedges, red/yellow pepper or cucumber julienned, radishes
• 1 tin anchovy fillets, drained
• 2 tablespoons red- or white-wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil

NOTE: Use high-quality tuna and anchovies! You will be amazed at the taste difference. Our local Italian market stocks Callipo tuna but Ortiz and Tonnino are great brands as well. Agostino Recca and Ortiz are two good anchovy brands.

Preparation

Hard boil the eggs and let cool. Cut into quarters.

Boil the potatoes until cooked and let cool. Have or quarter into manageable sized chunks. Cook the green beans until tender-crisp. Immediately douse into ice water to stop the cooking process. Let cool.

Prepare any other veggies you’d like to include. Natty Guy is not a fan of tomatoes so we skip those. I added red/yellow pepper to our salad as they were what I had on hand. Cucumber, radish, and beets are other common options.

Mix the vinaigrette by whisking together the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add the oil in slowly, whisking to incorporate. Add a spoonful of the vinaigrette to the lettuce, potatoes, and green beans. Toss to coat.

Create a ring of lettuce leaves on a large dinner plate. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, other veggies, egg, drained tuna and sardines and, olives in clusters on the plate. Serve remaining vinaigrette on the side.

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Until next time…keep cultivating a simple, stylish, and satisfying life!