Simple Salade Niçoise
- Author
- Christian Leue
- Servings
- 4 to 6
- Category
- Salad
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp Riviera Herbs
- 3 Tbsp vinegar (wine or cider both work)
- 3 quarts water
- 2/3 cup salt
- 1 Tbsp Sel d’Antibes
- 1 1/2 - 2 pounds of red skin or yellow potatoes, whole if small, quartered if large
- 6 - 8 eggs
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups (2-3 whole) Persian cucumbers, sliced thin on the bias
- 1 cup onion slices (red, Vidalia, or both)
- 1 cup olives (if you prefer pitted try Taggiasca from next door in Liguria, it's the same olive varietal as in Nice, where they are generally kept whole and called Calletier)
- One large can of olive oil canned tuna
- Optional additions (as you like): capers, sliced radishes, pickled peppers, anchovy fillets, scallions, fresh lemon
Directions
- Blend dressing ingredients together until well incorporated, set aside. The olive oil from the tuna has great flavor so add it in if you like.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add salt and Sel d’ Antibes. To make it even simpler, add a frying basket to the pot so you can remove everything easily. Add the potatoes and boil for 8 minutes, add the eggs and boil for 5 minutes more, finally add the beans and boil until tender (3-5 minutes depending on size). Remove all items from the pot to a bowl of cool running water to chill.
- Peel the eggs and quarter them (putting a bit of olive oil on the knife will help keep the yolk from sticking to the knife and tearing).
- Plate the salad, sprinkling the eggs with Espelette if you like. Goes great with a mineral-rich Rosé wine.