Just checked — it’s still salad weather. And Salade Niçoise is a perfect summer meal. I pulled this together with odds and ends from my refrigerator and pantry. The building blocks of this salad are boiled potatoes and green beans, oil-packed tuna, and a robust vinaigrette that includes anchovy, garlic, lemon, and Dijon mustard. After that, you can compose your salad using whatever you have on hand and drizzle with the vinaigrette. You can see in the photo that I used the green beans, potatoes, and tuna, and added a few leaves of baby lettuce, avocado, Calabrian chiles, oil-cured olives, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and roasted red peppers, and finished it with a sprinkling of capers and parsley. I forgot to pick up a loaf of crusty French bread, but somehow we survived without it.
I’m providing the recipe for the vinaigrette, and leaving you with creative license to compose your own beautiful and satisfying salad with whatever looks good in your pantry, fridge, garden, or neighbor’s garden.
- 1 large garlic clove, chopped
- 1 anchovy fillet
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
- Using the flat side of a knife, or a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic, anchovy, and salt into a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in lemon juice, zest, and mustard. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season to taste with black pepper.
