Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The Niçoise Salad Debate Continues

Posted by Ed Levine, April 27, 2007 at 9:30 AM

Steve Cuozzo in the New York Post had a funny piece about Niçoise salad. With more and more chefs and home cooks using fresh instead of canned tuna, I thought it would be useful to publish Julia Child's classic Niçoise salad recipe. It used canned tuna, of course. I like the Italian tuna canned in olive oil or, if you feel like splurging, get the Ortiz Ventresca tuna. It's more expensive but worth it. It's buttery and meaty and delicious and will make your salade Niçoise swing so much harder.

Julia Child's Salade Niçoise
- serves 6 -

Ingredients
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

Procedure
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.

Photograph from Wordridden on Flickr

3 Comments | Tags: French, Niçoise salad, recipes, salads, Serious Recipes, tuna