Description

This Nicoise salad recipe is a classic French composed salad with oil-packed tuna, jammy eggs, crisp green beans, potatoes, olives, capers, and a punchy Dijon vinaigrette. A beautiful, high-protein meal perfect for lunch, dinner, or entertaining.

Ingredients

Units

FOR THE SALAD:

2 cans (5 oz each) oil-packed tuna, slighly drained
4 large eggs
1 pound small waxy potatoes (fingerlings or baby Yukon golds), halved
8 ounces green beans or haricots verts, trimmed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup Nicoise or Kalamata olives, pitted
2 tablespoons capers, drained
3-5 halves of baby gem lettuces or 3 cups mixed salad greens or butter lettuce
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, roughly chopped
optional: marinated artichokes and/or white beans

FOR THE DIJON VINAIGRETTE:

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice (or combo of both)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, finely minced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together the vinegar, Dijon mustard, shallot, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking constantly until the dressing is emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
Cook the potatoes: Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook until fork-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, halve if not already, and immediately toss with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette while still warm. Set aside.
Blanch the green beans: Using the same pot of boiling water, add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes until bright green and just tender. Transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and pat dry.
Cook the eggs: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Gently lower in the eggs and cook for 6 to 7 minutes for jammy eggs, or 13 minutes for fully hard-boiled. Transfer to an ice bath for 5 minutes, then peel and halve lengthwise.
Assemble the salad: Arrange the salad greens on a large platter. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes, tuna, olives, capers, and eggs in separate sections over the greens.
Dress and serve: Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette generously over the whole platter. Scatter with fresh parsley and a few grinds of black pepper. Serve immediately with extra dressing on the side.

Notes

Dress the potatoes while still warm. This is the most important step. Hot potatoes absorb vinaigrette in a way cold potatoes can’t, making them much more flavorful throughout.

The salad components can be cooked up to 3 days ahead and stored separately in the fridge. Assemble and dress right before serving.