Traditional Nicoise Salad For A Light And Healthy Lunch

Nicoise salad is one of the most famous dish from the Cote d Azur region, and recipes using the term Nicoise have strict rules to follow.

Too often traditional recipes have been misrepresented by "unscrupulous" cooks and I have no intention of getting into trouble with locals.

So I did some research and on my French cooking bible, Larousse Gastronomique (amazon affiliate link) the world greatest culinary encyclopedia, I found its definition:

Nicoise

"the name given to various dishes typical of the cuisine around Nice, in which the most common ingredients are garlic, olives, anchovies, tomatoes and French green beans" 

From Larousse Gastronomique: The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia

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I made this Nicoise salad with the Organic Tomatoes and the other vegetables I bought from the farmer market, so I am using Nicoise ingredients.

But that is not all....

Nicoise salad

"Finally, Salad Nicoise is a typical southern dish containing tomatoes, cucumber locally grown fresh broad fava beans or small artichokes, green peppers, raw onions, hard boiled eggs, anchovis filets or tuna, black ripe Nice olives, olive oil, garlic an basil.

Neither potatoes nor cooked vegetables should be added to this salad."

So I guess I am in trouble here, but I always had Nicoise salad with green beans, not broad beans which are difficult to find when out of season. So, take it with a grain of salt, this my version of Nicoise salad you can have all year round. 

More traditional recipes from Nice

• Petit farcis
• Pissaladiere
• Pan Bagnat
• Tapenade
• Socca

If you are making this Nicoise Salad leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

Nicoise Salad

5 from 3 votes

Laura Tobin

Verified Culinary Authority

Servings 4 people

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

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The traditional Nicoise salad uses broad beans which are difficult to find when out of season. So, take it with a grain of salt, this my my version of Nicoise salad you can have all year round. 

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ ½ head roman lettuce
• ▢ 6 oz cherry tomatoes
• ▢ ½ cucumber
• ▢ 2 oz green beans boiled for 5 minutes
• ▢ ½ red onion thin cut rings
• ▢ 5 oz tuna canned in olive oil, drained best if stored in glass can
• ▢ 2 boiled eggs
• ▢ 6 filets anchovies stored in salt
• ▢ 10 nicoise olives
• ▢ 3 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
• ▢ salt
• ▢ lemon juice from ½ lemon

Instructions

 

• Wash the lettuce and cut the leaves for the salad
• Cook the eggs to hard boiled, then cut them in small slices. You can use the Colour Changing Egg Timer & the Egg Cutter from my Amazon shop section: Other items
• Boil the green beans in salted water for 5 minutes only so they remain crunchy
• Drain the tuna from its oil and wash the anchovy filets if they are preserved in salt
• Cut the onion in thin rings
  
• Put all the ingredients together
• To prepare the vinaigrette mix the olive oil, the juice of half lemon, salt and ½ of teaspoon of English mustard. If you have an empty jar of English mustard use that to mix the dressing with the mustard left in the can
  
• Season and serve

Notes

Calories 222 calories per serving
Fat 15 gr per serving
Carbohydrates 7gr per serving
Proteins 16gr per serving
Sugar 4 gr per serving
Sodium 552mg per serving

To lower the amount of sodium do not add the olives

Nutritional information is provided for general purpose only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely.

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 15gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 334mgPotassium: 393mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 870IUVitamin C: 15.5mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 1.7mg

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