Salade Nicoise - Upscale or Down Home

Elegant dinner versus rabbit food. 

Traditional Salade Niçoise ("neese-wahze") is a gorgeous dinner salad, packed with late summer and Mediterranean flavors. Its combination of textures, colors, bold accents, and proteins makes it a deeply satisfying meal. Exactly the opposite of "rabbit food" bagged supermarket salads that come to mind when you hear "How about a salad for dinner?"

Salade Composée ("compos-ay") is simply a "composed" salad. Rather than a big messy jumble, your dinner salad prepared in French way looks positively elegant. Each component is set off and tempts the diner to imagine how it, alone, will taste. The composition of colors and shapes and items on the plate also draws you into imagining how the flavors will combine when eaten together. Just soft potato, crisp green bean, onion-y bite and deep, round savory olives...

To learn how to make a classic Niçoise salad it helps begin in Provençe. Allons-Y!

Looking at the map, keep in mind the proximity of Nice ("neese") to Italy. Notice also that it's on the Mediterranean Sea. 

So, now I know where it began. But what is traditional or not? 

Its Mediterranean origins explain several things about the classic ingredient. Tuna, sardines, capers, peppers, haricots verts or green beans, all these items would be readily available. As would tomatoes, eggs and greens. Now, potatoes are not a typical ingredient according to many with familiarity of the region. Indeed, it is more commonly found in cooler climes and therefore, more likely a later addition to this "salade composee."

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes (here Heirlooms include Green Zebras and Russian Krim or Brandywine)
• Green beans
• Hard boiled eggs
• Potatoes*
• Red onion
• Capers
• Olives*
• Tuna
• Anchovies

Technique:

• Boil red new potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes* (probably not traditional, but good nonetheless)
• Boil eggs
• Blanch green beans by dipping them into the boiling potato water with a spider (large slotted spoon) then dropping in a bowl of ice water or holding under very cold running water. You want to arrest the cooking and keep the bite and bright color.
• Make vinaigrette, more than you would typically make for a leafy green salad.
• When the potatoes are cooked, run them under cool water, then simply rub the skins off with your fingers. Quarter them and toss the warm potatoes in dressing.
• Toss the green beans in the dressing.
• Slice the eggs, the tomatoes and rinse and dry thoroughly any greens you may wish to use.
• On a large platter arrange the salade in a nice looking way. Place greens, if using, down first. Drizzle with dressing.
• Quarter tomatoes, halve the eggs.
• Compose your ingredients and sprinkle with capers, olives*(use Niçoise olives or Kalamatas), parsley and a drizzle of the vinaigrette.