Nicoise salad hails from Nice, France on the Mediterranean Sea. It is traditionally made with tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Nicoise olives, anchovies or tuna, and is dressed in olive oil. This version celebrates BC’s in-season-local produce like warba potatoes, green beans, Greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers, and of course, BC Eggs. Dressed with a beautiful herb dressing, this salad is sure to be a family favourite any day of the week.
Ingredients
Salad:
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- 1 pound warba potatoes
- 300g green beans, trimmed
- 4 large eggs
- 3 – 4 tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cup cucumber, sliced
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1 head of lettuce or greens of your choice
- 1/2 cup nicoise or kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- Kosher salt
Herb Dressing:
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- 1 cup tightly packed fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh mint
- 4 – 5 cloves garlic
- 3 – 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp of cumin, or more to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 serrano or jalapeno pepper (optional if you want it a bit spicy)
- Olive oil until you reach your desired consistency (1/3 to 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients for the herb dressing, except the olive oil in a food processor and blend. Slowly add olive oil until a desired consistency is reached. Adjust ingredients to taste.
- Put the potatoes in a medium sauce-pan; cover with cold water and season with salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until fork tender, about 10 min. Drain and slice the potatoes into halves or quarters depending on the size (be careful, the potatoes will be hot). Place the sliced potatoes in a bowl and toss them with the white wine vinegar. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, bring a separate saucepan of salted water to a boil and fill a separate bowl with ice water. Add the green beans to the boiling water; cook until crisp-tender and bright green (2 – 4 minutes). Drain and immediately plunge the beans into the ice water to cool. Drain, pat dry, and set aside.
- Place the eggs in the same saucepan you cooked the potatoes in and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Bring to a rapid boil, then turn off the heat, cover and let the eggs cook for 10 min. While the eggs are cooking, fill a bowl with ice water. When eggs have finished cooking, remove the eggs and immediately submerge into the ice water and let cool for about 3-5 minutes before peeling.
- Divide the lettuce among 4 plates. Arrange the potatoes, green beans, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and olives. Drizzle with the herb dressing and enjoy.
Tips:
- There are many fun ways to customize this salad using produce that’s in season. Instead of green beans you can grill asparagus. For added colour, sliced radishes go very nicely in this salad. Feel free to add some canned tuna or baked fish as an accompaniment. If you are vegan, you can substitute the eggs for chickpeas or beans.
- There are also many dressing options that you can make. A simple vinaigrette with vinegar, shallot, mustard, thyme, salt, pepper, and olive oil pairs lovely with this salad as well.
