This classic salad from the city of Nice in the south of France combines the strong flavors of olives and tuna with lettuce, tomato, and hard-boiled egg. Most American versions also include potatoes and green beans, as I do here. A Niçoise Salad can be a complete Mediterranean meal. Plus, it’s super delicious.
You can blanch the green beans in advance to save time. Instead of hard-boiled eggs, I like to make 7-minute eggs. I put the eggs in a pot of water, bring it to a boil, then turn off the heat, and let rest for 7 minutes. If you want hard-boiled eggs, leave them sit in the hot water for 10-15 minutes.
This recipe appears in my cookbook, The Big Book of Mediterranean Diet Cooking. In the book it serves four. In this version, I show you how to make it for two people. Here we go:
- 1 red potato cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 tbsp white wine vinegar divided
- 4 ounces green beans trimmed
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 head butter lettuce chopped
- 1 5-oz can tuna in olive oil drained
- 1/4 cup Niçoise olives pitted
- 1 tomato chopped
- 2 scallions chopped
- 2 large hard-boiled eggs cut in half
- Bring a saucepan of salted water to boil. Add chopped potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Drain. Sprinkle potatoes with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Let sit.
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil, add green beans, and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
- In a small glass jar, combine olive oil, remaining 3 tablespoons of vinegar, mustard, thyme, salt, and pepper. Put lid on jar, and shake well to mix.
- In a large mixing bowl, add lettuce, tuna, olives, tomato, and scallion. Pour over half the vinaigrette, and toss to coat.
- Arrange lettuce mixture onto plates. Divide the potates, green beans, and egg onto each plate. Pour over the remaining dressing.