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    Home » Recipes » Salad

    Traditional Nicoise Salad For A Light And Healthy Lunch

    Published: Jul 31, 2015 · Modified: Apr 21, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

    Recipe

    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.

    Floating Nicoise Salad

    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

    (amazon affiliate link)

    Organic tomatoes

    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
    Pan Bagnat

    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.

    Floating Nicoise Salad

    Nicoise Salad

    5 from 3 votes
    Laura Tobin
    Servings 4 people
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 5 minutes mins
    Total Time 10 minutes mins
    Print Recipe Save Saved! Pin Recipe
    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. 
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients
     

    • 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
      Vinagrette
    • 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
    Tried this recipe?Please consider Leaving a Review!
    important notes on ingredients

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sarah Newman

      November 11, 2017 at 5:26 am

      Wow, those organic tomatoes look heavenly!! So fresh and vibrant, I bet it really enhanced the salad!

      Reply
      • Laura

        November 11, 2017 at 6:19 am

        they definitely do

        Reply
    2. Ginny

      November 11, 2017 at 6:35 am

      5 stars
      Such a classic and great lesson.

      Reply
    3. Kavita Favelle | Kavey Eats

      November 11, 2017 at 9:20 am

      5 stars
      Nicoise always takes me straight to southern France, those Mediterranean flavours are so evocative. For me, anchovies, green beans and black olives are essential, and yes, garlic, tomatoes and tuna.

      Reply
      • Laura

        November 11, 2017 at 9:53 am

        Yes, very Mediterranean indeed

        Reply
    4. Monica | Nourish & Fete

      November 11, 2017 at 1:23 pm

      5 stars
      Personally I am completely fine with having and sharing your own take on something like this - that's half the fun of cooking and experimenting and sharing recipes! I love your take on this classic, and would definitely enjoy this at any time of year!

      Reply
      • Laura

        November 11, 2017 at 3:43 pm

        Thank you Monica, I have seen it served with green beans often so even the Nicoises must have adapted

        Reply
    5 from 3 votes

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    Laura Giunta Tobin

    Hi, I’m Laura. Welcome to my blog! While many talk about Italian food, I’ve lived it firsthand. Here, I share real Italian home cooking, just as it’s made in Italy. Won’t you join me?

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