Salad Days – Salade Nicoise

The perfect delicious supper for the warm days before Fall weather sets in.

This salad is truly a meal, not just a side dish. As the name implies it comes from the south of France and is easy and delicious and best of all, all the elements of this yummy salad can be prepared up to two days ahead and just assembled when you’re ready to eat.

You can add other elements as you wish or according to your personal taste, but the basic classic components of this popular French delicacy are easy to come by and simple to assemble. They are green beans, boiled potatoes, ripe juicy tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, oil packed tuna, Nicoise olives (of course), anchovy fillets…though these are optional, and of course your favorite greens. We also enjoy some very thinly sliced red onion on ours.

Each element can be prepared ahead of time, potatoes and eggs boiled, green beans steamed, tomatoes quartered, onions thinly sliced. Drizzle greens with dressing then toss each element lightly with dressing before arranging on the bed of lettuce. A part of the beauty of this salad is that each ingredient is pre-dressed and unlike other salads are arranged by themselves separate from each other. Because they are pre-dressed there is no need to toss. Every bite will allow you to enjoy each part of this salad as you choose and have it fully dressed no matter what you put together on each bite.

Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Place everything except olive oil in a blender and mix until garlic is pulverized. Slowly add olive oil. Mustard will help emulsify the oil and vinegar to a creamy consistency. Store any unused dressing in a jar in the refrigerator and shake vigorously before using.

Serve with a good French baguette and some lovely butter and a glass of your favorite wine, or a glass of sparkling water, and you are in for a treat and a mini trip to the French Riviera. Bon appetit!