Niçoise Salad With Grilled Tuna and Potatoes
This famous dish is elevated to its greatest heights in this recipe! This isn't a quick and easy recipe; it feels like there are a lot of steps, but in the end it feels like a luxurious meal. Give yourself plenty of time, put on some tunes and enjoy the process. Make sure to give this a thorough read-over before getting started. This is not our original recipe, but we've been making it so long we don't remember where it came from. Best guess: it might have been from Fine Cooking before they were bought out by Food and Wine.
Equipment
- 1 Pot
- 1 Gas BBQ or Charchoal Grill
Ingredients
- Basil Vinaigrette
- 18 baby red potatoes
- 12 oz french green beans, trimmed these are thin green beans also called haricots vertes.
- 2.5 tsp salt
Grilling The Tuna
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 – 1½ lb fresh tuna steaks cut 1 inch thick
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp honey
Mixture For Grilling The Potatoes
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
Assemble Salad
- 4 oz red leaf lettuce About 4 cups lightly packed. Washed, dried and torn into bite sized pieces
- 3 oz baby arugula About 4 cups lightly packed. Washed and dried
- 16 leaves basil large leaves
- 1 ¼ lbs small ripe yellow, red, orange tomatoes cut into wedges use grape tomatoes if preferred
- 1 cup nicoise olives or other black olives
- 3 eggs hard boiled, peeled and quartered
Instructions
Make Ahead
- Make a Basil Vinaigrette a day in advance to let the flavours blend deeply.
Boil the potatoes and haricot verts
- Put the potatoes in a pot and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. A Bring to boil. Reduce and simmer. Let potatoes cook until easily pierced, about 15 – 20 minutes. Drain and let cool.18 baby red potatoes, 2.5 tsp salt
- Give the pot a quick rinse and refill it with fresh water. Bring the water to a boil. Add the green beans and ½ tsp of salt. Cook them until tender crisp, you should be able to just bite through with a little bit of resistance, mushy beans are not ideal. About 3 – 4 minutes. Drain and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside.12 oz french green beans, trimmed, 2.5 tsp salt
Grill the Potatoes and The Tuna
- Heat a gas grill to high or prepare a hot charcoal fire.
- Combine 1 tbsp mayonnaise and 2 tbsp honey in a small bowl. Season tuna steak with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Brush mayo mixture onto both sides of the steak.½ tsp pepper, ¼ tsp salt, 1 – 1½ lb fresh tuna steaks, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- Once the grill is very hot, place the tuna on it until dark marks start to form on both sides – about 1-2 min per side for medium rare. If you prefer medium tuna, grill on high for closer to 3min per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice the tuna into ¼-inch thick strips.
- Cut the potatoes in half and toss them in a mixing bowl with 2 tbsp mayo, 2 tsp mustard and ½ tsp salt. Turn the grill to medium-high or let the fire die down some. Grill the potatoes without disturbing except to flip. The goal is to get brown grill marks on both sides. About 1 – 2 minutes on each side.2 tbsp mayonnaise, ½ tsp salt, 2 tsp dijon mustard
Assemble The Salad
- Set six large dinner plates on your kitchen counter. Put the red leaf lettuce, arugula and half of the basil in a large mixing bowl. Toss with 2 tbsp of vinaigrette.4 oz red leaf lettuce, 3 oz baby arugula , 16 leaves basil
- Arrange the lettuce in one bundle on the plate. Tuck the tomatoes to one side of the lettuce and arrange the tuna on the other side of the lettuce. Place olives in the middle of each plate.1 ¼ lbs small ripe yellow, red, orange tomatoes cut into wedges, 1 cup nicoise olives
- Toss the green beans in the bowl with about 2 tbs of vinaigrette. Arrange the green beans and grilled potatoes at the bottom of the plate. Tuck in quartered boiled eggs into whatever corners look best. Drizzle the vinagrette over the tuna and the potatoes on every plate.12 oz french green beans, trimmed
Notes
The photo: In our photo you may have noticed that we do not have red lettuce or arugula. At that time we had a backyard and decided to use garden lettuce. So, if you were just about to compose an email with an “AHA!” you can close the tab. Wine Pairings: This is beautiful complemented by a good rosé. We enjoyed it with a Belle Glos Pinot Noir Blanc (Sonoma 2014).
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
