Fresh From Nancy's Garden

A Fun Place For Gardening Tips and Great Recipes

Bastille Day–Time For The Perfect Salad Nicoise!

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The trick to a perfect Salad Nicoise is making sure everything looks beautiful on the plate and of course, tastes as good as it looks.  


The green beans need to be crisp yet tender and retain their bright green color. Even more important are the eggs. They need to have perfectly yellow centers. You certainly don’t want the grey ring around the yolk, or worse yet, undercooked eggs. 


I’ll share my tricks to getting them both just right and you’ll impress your friends and family every time.

This is somewhat modified from the French version since I wanted to use what I was growing and to be honest, I’m not a big fan of olives. If you want to be authentic use butter lettuce and add olives and capers.


This will serve two, but add more of everything if you’re feeding a crowd.

INGREDIENTS
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 handful blanched green beans
2 boiled Yukon gold potatoes, cut into thick slices
6 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 handful of baby spinach
1 can good tuna, drained (freshly cooked is even better)

For the dressing:
1 TBS chopped shallot
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp. grainy mustard
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil, more if you’d like it milder
salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing: Add first four ingredients then whisk in the olive oil to emulsify. I like my dressing tangy, but add more olive oil if you’d like. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad: This is one of those meals that’s even better if you’re growing your own veggies. I picked the green beans, spinach, tomatoes and Yukon gold potatoes just before I cooked them. The fresher the ingredients the better. If your garden isn’t producing, try to get them fresh from your Farmer’s Market. 

  

 Here’s what my green beans looked like about a half hour before I ate them.

Add beans to a pot of boiling water and cook until crisp/tender. About 4 minutes. Be careful not to overcook or they’ll be mushy and taste like they’re from a can–you don’t want that.

IMMEDIATELY put them in ice water. This will stop the cooking process and help them maintain their brilliant green color.

Now for the eggs–thank you, Martha Stewart for the secret to perfect hard boiled eggs.

Put eggs in a large pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. This can take 8-10 minutes. When the water comes to a full boil, cover and remove from the heat. Let sit for 12 minutes.

IMMEDIATELY put in an ice bath–it stops the cooking and keeps the yolks a beautiful yellow. 

 Peel and place in slicer.

And voila (as they say in France…and this is a French salad) enjoy your beautiful eggs.

They’re perfect every time. 

Now for the fun part–the assembly. First put the spinach on the plate then top with the other ingredients. Try to balance the colors so it all looks delicious. Drizzle with the vinaigrette dressing, and as always, Enjoy! 


Welcome, welcome, welcome….to my new readers in Macedonia. Thanks for visiting my site and remember, you can learn all about Laguna Beach at StuNews.

Categories: Soups & Salads

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1 reply ›

  1. laguna dirt
    July 15, 2012 • 5:53 pm

    That salad looks as beautiful as it must be delicious. Your homegrown green beans, though, make the dish!

    Reply ↓

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