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Family friendly Niçoise salad

Niçoise salad originated in the French city of Nice. It is traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives, anchovies and dressed with olive oil. Tuna may be added to it, as well as green beans and potatoes. A great dinner salad full of flavors and textures. And this is my family friendly version of it.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: French
Calories: 616
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Lentils
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion (chopped)
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 cup lentils (I used red lentils, but other types of lentils work just as well)
  • ½ ltr vegetable broth (use homemade* or store bought. You can even just use water and use extra salt to season)
Tuna marinate
  • 1½ lbs freshly caught tuna filet
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper
Marinated tomatoes/ dressing
  • 1 cup tomatoes (cut in 4 or 8. Or use cherry tomatoes and cut them in half)
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • ¼ tsp mustard (any will do, I used grained Dijon mustard)
~
  • 1 small red onion (in thin wedges)
  • 1 lbs green beans (ends trimmed and cut in half if too long)
  • 4 small organic eggs (boiled, peeled, cut in half)
  • 6 small/baby potatoes (boiled, unpeeled, cut in half)
  • ¼ cup green olives (use whatever type of olive you prefer)
  • 1 handful basil leaves
  • 1 handful greens (like kale or arugula) (optional)
  • 4 anchovy fillets (optional)

Method
 

Lentils
  1. Start by preparing the lentils. They will take the longest. Heat up olive oil in a medium pot and add onion and garlic. Once the onion is translucent add the lentils and the spices. Give it a quick stir. Now add the broth and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on it; make sure there is still enough liquid in the pot for the lentils not to burn)
Marinate tuna
  1. Marinate the tuna. Place the tuna filet in a medium size mixing bowl and add marinate ingredients. Cover and set aside.
Marinate tomatoes
  1. Marinate the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a medium size mixing bowl and add marinate ingredients except for the mustard. Cover and set aside.
Prepare everything for the salad
  1. While the lentils are cooking, the tomatoes and tuna are marinating:
    - blanch the green beans. Boil water in a stock pot, add the green beans for just a few minutes, drain, rinse and set aside. A quick blanch will keep the green beans crunchy.
    - Boil the potatoes, drain them, let them cool a little bit (otherwise you will burn your fingers cutting them) and cut them lengthwise. Sprinkle with some sea salt and set them aside.
    - Boil the eggs, drain, rinse in ice cold water (this will allow you to peel them more easily), peel and cut them lenghtwise. Sprinkle with some sea salt and set them aside.
    - Bring out the red onion wedges, olives and basil leaves. This way you have everything ready to assemble your salad the moment the tuna is ready.
Prepare the tuna
  1. To prepare the tuna, heat up a skillet and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Take the tuna out of the marinate. Sear the tuna quickly. You want the outside to be crunchy, but the inside should still be rare and pink.
Dressing
  1. Drain the tomatoes. Catch the marinate, transfer to a dressing shaker and add the mustard. Shake well and transfer to a serving bowl.
Assemble the salad
  1. Now it is time to assemble your salad if you are going for a pretty mixed salad or put all the individual bowls, plates and platters on the dinner table so everyone can create their own salad. Enjoy your dinner salad!

Notes

*homemade vegetable broth
 
Nutritional information:
the information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.