Salade Niçoise (Classic French Composed Salad)

French salads do not come up much on a Portuguese food blog, but after the ratatouille (recipe on the site) I posted from that same trip to the Riviera, it felt wrong not to give salade niçoise its turn too. It has become my answer to salada de atum (recipe on the site) and salada de polvo (recipe on the site) on the nights I want something cold, substantial, and Mediterranean but not specifically Portuguese.

Ask ten people from Nice what belongs in a real salade niçoise and you will start an argument. Purists insist it should be entirely raw, tomatoes, cucumber, tiny black niçoise olives, anchovies, good tuna packed in olive oil, hard-boiled eggs, with absolutely no cooked potatoes or green beans allowed anywhere near it.

The version most people actually know and love, with blanched green beans and boiled potatoes, is technically called a salade niçoise composee, but it is the one that shows up at nearly every American brunch table, so I have written the recipe to let you choose either way.

The one thing worth splurging on here is the tuna: a good jarred or canned tuna packed in olive oil makes a bigger difference in this dish than in almost anything else I cook. Make it in the height of summer, when tomatoes finally taste like something again, and you will understand why the French have been arguing about this salad for a century.

Salade Niçoise Recipe

Prep time: 25 minutes · Cook time: 15 minutes · Total: 40 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~380 per serving

Ingredients

• For the salad:
• 4 large eggs
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
• 4 small Yukon gold potatoes, halved (optional, for the composed version)
• 1 (5- to 6-ounce) can or jar high-quality tuna packed in olive oil
• 4 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Niçoise olives
• 8 anchovy fillets (optional but traditional)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• For the vinaigrette:
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. If using potatoes, cook them in salted boiling water until fork-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Blanch the green beans in the same pot of boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, until crisp-tender, then transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain well.
3. Place the eggs in a small pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 9 minutes for a just-set yolk. Drain, cool, peel, and quarter.
4. Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper for the vinaigrette.
5. Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, green beans, potatoes, and olives on a large platter. Flake the tuna over the top and tuck in the anchovy fillets and egg quarters.
6. Drizzle generously with the vinaigrette, scatter with basil leaves, and serve right away.

Recipe Notes

• Purists in Nice will tell you a true salade niçoise never sees a cooked potato or green bean, using only raw vegetables; the version with potatoes and green beans is technically a salade niçoise composee, but it is the one most people love, so both options are included here.
• Buy the best canned or jarred tuna packed in olive oil you can find, it makes a bigger difference here than in almost any other dish.
• Niçoise olives are small, dark, and briny; if you cannot find them, oil-cured black olives are the closest substitute.
• This salad is at its best in the height of summer, when tomatoes actually taste like something.