Salade Niçoise

Salade Niçoise

Light, refreshing and famous the world over, Salade Niçoise (nee-SWAHZ) , from the city of Nice in southern France, puts fresh garden produce and fine Mediterranean ingredients to excellent use. You can even turn a Salade Niçoise into a portable meal, using it as a filling for a sandwich called Pan Bagnat. As any citizen of Nice will tell you, classic salade Niçoise does not contain cooked vegetables. However, versions served outside of France very often contain cooked green beans and boiled potatoes. I followed the actual recipe, You can omit anchovies if you don't like it or add boiled beans and potatoes instead. It tastes wonderful either way.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Mixing Time         : 10 minutes
Difficulty              :  Very Easy
Serves                  :   4

Ingredients :

Vinaigrette :

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 Scallions/ Green Onions, minced

1/2 cup Olive oil

Salt to season

Pepper to taste 

Salad :

• 4 Tomatoes, cut into wedges, seeds removed
• 1 Green or Red Pepper, seeds removed, cut into strips
• 2 big handfuls Salad greens (use as per your choice)
• 12 Basil leaves
• 2 cans Tuna, drained
• 3 Eggs, hard-cooked, peeled, cut into quarters 
• 1/2 cup Black Olives, pitted
• 12 Anchovy fillets, rinsed

Salade Niçoise

Method :

  1 ) In a large bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, mustard and minced scallion.

 

  2)  Still whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil to form an emulsion. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

  3) Add the tomatoes, sliced pepper, salad greens and basil leaves to the bowl with the vinaigrette and toss well.

 

  4) Portion the greens out onto individual plates and garnish each portion neatly with some of the tuna, eggs, olives and anchovy fillets.

 
Salade Niçoise Variations :
   
 Additions : Chopped artichoke hearts, peeled fava beans, chopped celery hearts and peeled, seeded and sliced cucumber are common additions to salade Niçoise. Though not traditional, boiled, peeled potatoes and cooked green beans are very co
common in Salade Niçoise made outside of southern France.