Friday, July 15th, 2011 | posted by mike

A true meal in itself. You can cook the potatoes, eggs and green beans in the same pot to cut down on cooking time and dishes. Salad Niçoise is a composed salad that looks gorgeous on a platter, and there’s lots of room for improvisation when it comes to ingredients (you can add roasted red peppers, feta, toasted walnuts, or other Mediterranean components). The following recipe is the classic style of southern France, but topped with seared, fresh, sashimi-grade tuna. Serves 4.

Ingredients for vinaigrette:

• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1/2 t Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 lemon, juiced
• 1 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 T minced fresh tarragon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredients for Salad:

• Fresh baby greens, Boston lettuce or Romaine to line the platter
• 1/2 lb. small new or fingerling potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 lb. French green beans, stems removed
• 1 lb. fresh sashimi-grade tuna
• 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup niçoise olives
• 8 anchovy fillets
• 1/4 cup capers

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together until emulsified then set aside for the flavors to meld.

Bring potatoes to a boil in a kettle of salted water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then add the eggs. You can either steam the beans above the boiling water for about 5 minutes, or simply add them to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. In the end, you want the potatoes to be fork-tender and the beans to be slightly crisp. Drain everything in a colander under cold water, then put back in the pot with cold water and ice to shock and chill the ingredients.

Heat a heavy bottom skillet or cast iron pan over medium-high. Rub the tuna with olive oil and a bit of the vinaigrette and salt & pepper. When the pan is hot, sear the tuna for 2 minutes or so per side…you don’t want it to cook all the way through. Remove from pan and place on a cutting board while you compose the platter.

Composing the platter
Line the platter with lettuce or fresh baby greens. Use a bowl to coat the individual ingredients (potaotes, beans, capers, tomatoes, olives and anchovies) in vinaigrette before arranging the separate ingredients like a dial around the platter. (We actually mixed all the ingredients together, but the classic version keeps things in separate piles so guests can choose how much of each ingredient to add to their plate.) Halve or quarter the eggs and arrange on the platter then slice the seared tuna and arrange attractively in the center of the dish. Drizzle the platter with remaining vinaigrette.