Salade Niçoise With Fresh Tuna
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- ¾pound red potatoes
- 1½tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 5cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped (1½ tablespoons)
- 1½tablespoons red-wine vinegar
- 7tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2teaspoons salt
- 3teaspoons freshly ground pepper
- 1½cups water
- ¾pound string beans (preferably haricot verts), tips and strings snapped off
- 1yellow pepper
- 2very ripe medium-size tomatoes ( ¾ pounds)
- 1½cups sliced red onions
- 1cup nicoise or black oil-cured olives
- 1pound fresh tuna
- 1teaspoon canola oil
- About 1 dozen red lettuce leaves
- 1cup (loose) basil leaves, shredded into large pieces
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
353 calories; 20 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 23 grams protein; 997 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Place the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cool water and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low and boil gently for 25 to 35 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but still firm when pierced with a fork. Drain off the water and set the potatoes aside until cool enough to slice.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. In a large bowl, mix together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Whisk until it comes together.
- Step 3
Peel the potatoes, if desired, and cut into ½-inch slices. Toss with the dressing.
- Step 4
Bring the 1½ cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the beans, cover and return to a boil. Boil over high heat for 1 to 3 minutes (less for haricot verts and more for larger beans) until just tender but slightly firm to the bite. Drain and run under cold water for a few seconds to stop the cooking and preserve the bright green color. Cut the beans in half.
- Step 5
Peel the yellow pepper as best you can with a vegetable peeler (much easier to do if the pepper is firm and thick-walled). Then cut the pepper through the pleats, remove and discard the seeds and continue peeling the skin from the pieces. Pile up the peeled pepper wedges and cut them into thin julienne strips (about 1½ cups). Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise, press out the seeds and cut the unpeeled flesh into 1-inch pieces.
- Step 6
No more than 1 hour before serving, add the beans, yellow pepper, red onions, tomatoes and black olives to the potatoes. Mix well.
- Step 7
When almost ready to serve, heat 1 large cast-iron or heavy skillet over high heat for about 2 minutes, until very hot. Sprinkle the tuna with the remaining 2 teaspoons of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt and then roll in the canola oil. Place the tuna steak in the hot skillet and sauté over high heat for about 2 minutes, turning once, until lightly browned on the outside and cooked until rare on the inside. Cut into ½-inch slices.
- Step 8
To serve, line a large platter with the lettuce leaves. Mound the salade niçoise in the center of the platter and place the sliced tuna and the basil leaves on top. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Oh chérie! You are too purist, and I believe in Jac Pepin...
Iris Butler
Add some sliced hard boiled eggs.
chris
Add Capers!
Alison
Fantastic recipe I have made many times in the last 15 years. Fresh tuna is key. Don't bother taking the time to peel the pepper; the recipe will take you more than an hour already unless your vegetables are prewashed and pretrimmed. I reduce the amount of red onion a bit and cube the potatoes instead of slicing them, but otherwise follow the recipe. Delicious!
katsby
Very delicious! Just make the individual parts separately and have them all ready to combine right before dinner. I used canned tuna and it was still delicious. The dressing is wonderful. Also helps to "steep" the potatoes (i used baby), string beans, tomatoes (I used cherry), and olives in the dressing for a while for flavors really to meld.
chris hawkins
Whaaaat? No hard-boiled eggs? No anchovies? Those are two of the reasons I love salade Nicoise.
Carol
Francesca, you have been misled. My 100% French grandmother made Nicoise all the time with potatoes AND green beans.
erin
This was the best nicoise I've ever made and possibly the best I've ever eaten. I added sliced boiled eggs (with sticky yellow yolks - best after a 6mn boil) and anchovies on the side. The dressing was fantastic, and tuna couldn't be any easier. Ditto the tip not to bother peeling the pepper, and I boiled the eggs and potatoes in the morning to make assembly a breeze. Paired it with some crostini and rose. Voila!
jane r
Do add the hard boiled eggs - add another texture. Had some yesterday steamed asparagus and added that - no one rebelled in my household. All round appreciation in fact, including from 12 year old.
SZ
This, with canned tuna (sorry, I do not have unlimited funds!), is a go-to summer meal in my house. Mandolin makes short work of the peppers, and the dressing is just fantastic. Big fan!
hicountryho
While fresh is great, not everyone who wants to regularly eat this can shell out $25 a lb for fresh tuna. While still pricy, I go with jarred Tonnino Tuna Fillets, it's delicious and quick.
Thomas Greisen
I always add 6 min. eggs to this wonderful dish/salad.
Sue
Lovely sharp dressing with the mustard, and a classic salad overall. The fresh tuna is a nice touch, but I imagine it would be good with canned as well. So good for dinner! I cut back on the garlic and onion to our tastes.
Mark
Excellent but it does require a fair amount of hands-on prep time. Tossing hot potatoes with vinaigrette and letting them soak it up is key. Add the beans, etc. to the potatoes and let that all sit until room temp. I added 2 chopped hard cooked eggs per an earlier comment. My only quibble is that the vinaigrette is a tad bland, but topping the salad with the juice and grated zest of half a lemon took care of that!
Karma
One of my summer favorites! I've found the key is finding the absolute best ingredients you can and then season them simply. As a twist, I roast/caramelize the potatoes rather than boiling them--gives them a nice crunch and different flavor profile. Always amazing and pairs perfectly with a chilled French rosé-
JL
Awesome recipe. I used canned hardwood smoked tuna and it came out great. Definitely making it again!
susan Audrey
If you listen to Jacques in the video with Julia Child, you hear (and see) him peel the pepper, saying, paraphrasing--It will digest better if peeled. Yes! I have trouble digesting raw peppers, especially green. I never thought the peel was at fault. Good idea, as usual, from Jacques.
KM
Toss dressing with lettuce only, compose rest of salad
Michael Fiske
I omitted the yellow pepper. I added capers, anchovy, and hard boiled egg.
Helen Ullric
This is a perfect hot weather meal. You can prep the veggies at your leisure throughout the day. As others have said, no need to peel the pepper. The vinaigrette is superb! I didn’t mix all the vegetables together but preferred to keep them separate for a prettier arrangement. I let the warm potatoes steep in the vinaigrette for a couple of hours, then arranged them on my platter and put each vegetable separately into the leftover vinaigrette. The tuna was a quick sear for an easy finish.
Anna B
The best - merci Jacques! The Swiss judge gives this a 5 star. I did use walnut oil....
Beth
Used 1 T garlic paste and 5 T olive oil in the dressing. Cut down on red onion. Used arugula.
nf
fun salad that you can make as traditional or nontraditional as you want: ditched the yellow pepper and red onion for thinly sliced watermelon radish and shallot (what we had lying around the fridge); used cherry tomatoes (what we had on hand); used grainy dijon, rosé vinegar, and lemon in the dressing (again, just what we had). seared tuna was great but tricky to slice (next time we'll let it "set" in the fridge before slicing)
Jennifer
Lovely and easy - best to prep veggies before hand and then it is super fast. This would be a terrific summer meal for a crowd
Jennifer
a really good recipe, my guests gobbled it up. I soaked the red onions in water but they were still a bit sharp, I might use pickled red onions or pickled red cabbage next time. I also added hard-boiled eggs (with semi-hard yolks.) this salad looks absolutely beautiful and tastes fantastic.
Sandy
This is a terrific recipe. To make it look like the photo, which I usually do, requires a few more dishes. Make the dressing, then put the components in separate bowls, and spoon some dressing into each bowl. I don’t mind doing extra dishes, since I like this kind of salad prettily arranged. Your call.
Michael
It's just the two of us so I use the recipe as a guide and vary the components depending on what I have on hand. Tonight it was butter leaf lettuce cups topped with an endive leaf filled with grated boiled egg, anchovy filet, asparagus spear and a slice of lightly seared tuna. In each lettuce cup I add capers, quick pickled red onions, quick salt plumb pickled radish, potatoes and salted/drained tomatoes. Drizzle with the fantastic dressing in the recipe and 2 cups per person is just right.
Andrea V
Amazing meal. I went ahead and added sliced hard boiled eggs as per Iris Butler's recommendation and thought it was superb!!
Kari
I used canned tuna in olive oil and tiny tomatoes. I marinated only the potatoes. I didn't peel the peppers. Everyone loved it, age 15 months to 73 years. The dressing is outstanding.
Michelle
Amazing! Make a half recipe for two
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