Colorful Niçoise Salad Recipe

Sometimes, the best salads are made without lettuce. When most people think of a salad, they think of a bed of greens, and maybe a protein. However, this salad is different from what we are used to seeing, and it's packed with filling ingredients like hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, and green beans. Instead of chicken, pieces of tuna are added as a special touch to this dish.

Recipe developer Jennine Rye came up with this simple, yet flavorful Niçoise salad recipe to spice up your average salad. "I love how easy this dish is to throw together. It's such an elegant, classic salad; it's really flavorful, and also super healthy. It's a great way to feed a crowd of people," Rye raves. "This is great as a hearty, healthy lunchtime dish to share with family or friends. It's also a great salad to cook up, and bring to a potluck dinner or a dinner party. It's also possible to serve up the food on individual plates, but I think it looks much lovelier set out, and mixed on a big platter," Rye explains. "Because it has that classic casual elegance that most French foods seem to have, it's great for low-key, casual weekday meals, or something fancier. It's also a great meal for summertime when it's too hot to eat anything warm."

Start by grabbing a few basics like new potatoes, large eggs, fresh green beans, garlic, flaked sea salt, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, and ground black pepper. You will also need fresh chives, fresh dill, red onion, canned tuna, heirloom tomatoes, black olives, and capers.

Once you have those things, you can make this colorful Niçoise salad.

Fill a saucepan with water, and bring it to a boil. Once you see bubbles reach the top of the surface, carefully place the eggs in the saucepan."When boiling the eggs, try not to let the egg shells crack when you put them in the water," Rye notes. "If it does happen, it's not really a big deal, but you'll just lose some of the egg white to the boiling water!"

Boil for 8 minutes, and then remove the pot from the heat. Then, carefully place the eggs in a bowl of cold water.

While the eggs cook, bring a saucepan filled with water to a boil, and then toss in the potatoes. These take a little longer to cook than the eggs, about 20 minutes.

You can check doneness by inserting a knife through one of the potatoes. If it passes through easily, that means the potatoes are done cooking. Once finished, drain the saucepan, and run the potatoes under cold water to cool. If you see any large potatoes, slice them in half.

While the potatoes cook, place the green beans in a steamer, and steam for 4 minutes until they begin to soften.

Once done, add the green beans to a bowl of cold water, which will stop them from cooking. "You don't want to over-steam the green beans, or else they will end up limp and lacking in color," Rye shares. "It's good to ensure that the potatoes and the beans are properly cooled once they are cooked, to stop over-cooking them."

Add the garlic and flaked sea salt to a mortar, and crush them using a pestle. Once the 2 ingredients form a paste, toss in the Dijon mustard, followed by the lemon juice, and black pepper.

Then, you can slowly whisk in the olive oil, and chopped herbs into the bowl. "The vinaigrette has a lovely balanced flavor," Rye notes. "The garlic clove and the Dijon mustard give it body, but the biggest flavors are from the lemon juice, the dill, and chives. It's delicious!"

Once cooked and cooled, gently roll the hard-boiled eggs, or tap them to crack the shells. Completely remove the shells, and slice each hard-boiled egg in half.

Select a bowl or platter for serving, and begin to assemble the salad. Start with the cooled potatoes, and then add the cooled green beans and eggs. At this time, you can also throw in the drained canned tuna, heirloom tomatoes, sliced red onions, black olives, and capers.

After you have all the ingredients in place, drizzle the lemon herb vinaigrette over the top.

Now, you can finally dig in! "This Niçoise salad is a wonderful dish to be served on its own, and can be a filling lunch or dinner option. It could also be served alongside other dishes, for example other salads, or it could be a side for meat if you would like that," Rye says. "Garlic bread would make a wonderful addition to this meal, as would a plate of French fries! If [you are] having this dish for dinner, it would pair well with a lovely chilled glass of white wine."

Be sure to keep anything you don't finish. "Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days," Rye notes. We hope you like this unique and delicious salad!