I love a Niçoise salad, the options on the plate, the richness and the fact that it is an entire meal in salad form. We eat them pretty often, though they are pretty laborious and require many a dirty pot in the sink to wash, but oh so delicious.

I’ve provided Julia Child’s recipe for salade Niçoise, a bit fancier than my own and with a few ingredients more, you can add or eliminate as you go along.

Salade Niçoise

From Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, by Julia Child.

• 1 large head Boston-lettuce leaves, washed and dried
• 1 pound green beans, cooked and refreshed
• 1-1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup basic vinaigrette
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 or 4 ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, halved)
• 3 or 4 “boiling” potatoes, peeled, sliced, and cooked
• Two 3-ounce cans chunk tuna, preferably oil-packed
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
• 1 freshly opened can of flat anchovy fillets
• 1/3 cup small black Niçoise-type olives
• 2 to 3 tablespoons capers
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter or in a shallow bowl. Shortly before serving, toss the beans with the shallots, spoonfuls of vinaigrette, and salt and pepper. Baste the tomatoes with a spoonful of vinaigrette. Place the potatoes in the center of the platter and arrange a mound of beans at either end, with tomatoes and small mounds of tuna at strategic intervals. Ring the platter with halves of hard-boiled eggs, sunny side up, and curl an anchovy on top of each. Spoon more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers, and parsley, and serve.

Yield: Serves 6

One Year Ago: Porcini Trifolati

Two Years Ago: Meat Tzimmes & Sweet Carrot Coins

~ by italicious on September 22, 2011.

Posted in cucumber, eggs, green beans, olives, potato, salad, tomatoes, tuna
Tags: eggs, French, lettuce, olives, potatoes, salad, tomatoes, tuna