This beautiful “new” Niçoise salad has it all—instant attraction with colour, flavour, and buttery smoked salmon. Serve it with “jammy” cooked organic eggs, pickled red onion, and a lively dressing. You’ll wow even the most finicky of eaters.
Nouveau Niçoise with Smoked Salmon, Jammy Eggs, and Brilliant Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced red onion
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) raw sugar
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) sea salt
- 4 medium organic eggs
- 1/2 lb (225 g) small new potatoes (creamer) or unpeeled blue potatoes
- 1 lb (450 g) fresh asparagus
- 2 cups (500 mL) frisÈe or mixed baby greens
- 1/2 head radicchio, leaves separated
- 6 oz (170 g) cold-smoked wild salmon
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) bright green olives, such as Castelvetrano
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) capers, rinsed and drained (optional)
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) fresh minced tarragon
- 2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
- 1 grated or finely minced garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) raw sugar or honey
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper
- 3 Tbsp (45 mL) extra-virgin olive oil or camelina oil
- Sea salt, to taste (optional)
Nutrition
Per serving:
- calories223
- protein9g
- fat13g
- saturated fat2g
- trans fat0g
- carbohydrates16g
- sugars4g
- fibre3g
- sodium448mg
Directions
01
In bowl, place onion slices, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. With your hands, massage onions until tender and pink, about 2 minutes. Chill in tightly covered glass container until ready to use. It can be made several days ahead.
Bring large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. With slotted spoon, carefully place eggs into simmering water. Return to a simmer, cover, and cook for 6 minutes. Drain and place eggs in bowl of ice water and chill until slightly warm. Remove and set aside until cool enough to peel. Refrigerate.
Place steamer basket in pan, add potatoes, and cover tightly. Bring to a boil and steam until potatoes are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Alternatively, in large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook whole potatoes until fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, slice in half. Refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Snap off and discard tough ends from asparagus. Lightly oil asparagus spears and place in single layer on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Remove and refrigerate.
In small bowl, combine lemon juice, tarragon, mustard, garlic, sugar, and pepper. Gradually whisk in oil until emulsified. Add salt to taste, if you wish. Refrigerate.
When ready to serve salad, arrange frisée and radicchio on platter. Top with drained, pickled onion and roasted asparagus. Halve jammy eggs and place on top along with smoked salmon and olives, and capers, if using.
Give dressing a quick whisk and drizzle overtop. Serve at room temperature or cold.
TIP: Salade Niçoise is a traditional dish from Nice, France, that contains tuna, tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs, anchovies, and Niçoise olives. But here, we’ve incorporated a few uniquely Canadian twists.
TIP: For ease of preparation, pickle onions ahead. Cook potatoes and chill. Cook and chill eggs. Cook potatoes and roast asparagus. Refrigerate for up to a day and assemble when ready to serve.
Irene McGuinness is a writer, recipe developer, food stylist for numerous magazines and corporations, and alumna of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
