Salade Niçoise - The Rite of Summer

No matter how much I “love” to cook, some days it is just too hot to turn on the oven.  With 98 degree days a regular occurrence, especially in the late afternoon, the last thing I want to do is sweat for my supper!  So when the weather turns hot, I turn to salads.  One of my two favorite summer salads is Niçoise.

Salade Niçoise - tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green beans, tuna and olives arranged  on a bed of lettuce -  originated in Nice, France on the Cote d’Azur of southern France.  Like most dishes it has evolved over the years.  In the area of Nice, the vegetables in this salad are never cooked. The potatoes are substituted with artichoke hearts, and red peppers and shallots are used.  Even the use of lettuce, or not, varies according to region.  Any way you make it, this salad is filling but not heavy!  The option of adding anchovies and capers only enhances the flavor.  The perfect choice on a hot day.

I am proud to say that most of the ingredients for my salad - potatoes, tomatoes, red onions, green beans and bibb lettuce - came from my vegetable garden.  By the way, in case you were wondering, my other favorite summer salad is the Cobb Salad - but that’s another post....

Salade Niçoise Recipe

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

bibb lettuce

1/2 pound new potatoes, boiled and quartered

1/3 pound green beans, trimmed and blanched

1/2 red onions, thinly sliced

1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup niçoise olives, pitted

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

1 (6-ounce) can tuna

3 anchovy fillets, optional

1 tablespoon capers, optional

1/2 cup vinaigrette

Preparation:

Arrange lettuce on a large platter or shallow bowl.  Mound remaining ingredients on lettuce and finish with vinaigrette.  Garnish with capers and anchovies, if desired.