Nicoise Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Nicoise salad dressing made of? ›

Make the vinaigrette: Whisk Dijon mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, shallots, and olive oil in a bowl until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Etymology. French salade niçoise salad in the style of Nice (city in France)

Toss greens with vinaigrette in a salad bowl; top with chilled potato mixture. Garnish with eggs, tomatoes, anchovies, and capers.

Because of the richness of the salad with the potatoes and anchovies, think of wines with character and complex bouquets. Red wines should have some notes of umami, earth or spice. Skin contact wines, Pet Nats and Island wines will be great too. My wine was Les Capriades 2016 Piège à Filles Rosé Pet Nat.

Nicoise olives are traditionally used to make tapenade but Kalamata olives are a good substitute.

Niçoise Salad Origin

Salade Niçoise originates in the French riviera town of Nice. Traditionally served on a large platter, the composed salad includes fresh tomatoes, sliced hard-boiled eggs, tuna and an olive oil dressing. There are many renditions of the classic salad, however, and the dish varies with the seasons.

Ingredients. Water, Soybean Oil, Distilled Vinegar, Sugar, Salt, Eggs, Romano Cheese (Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Dehydrated Garlic, Spice, Xanthan Gum, Dextrose, Annatto Color, Calcium Disodium EDTA Added to Protect Flavor, Natural Flavor.

Niçoise comes from the French phrase à la niçoise and means “of Nice,” a French city on the Mediterranean coast. Other things can be described as niçoise (like the olive), but it is best known as the name of the salad associated with Nice, France, where it is said to have originated.

Brine-cured and typically preserved in red wine, red wine vinegar, or olive oil, they have a rich, tangy, and somewhat fruity flavor. A key ingredient of the Greek salad, kalamata olives also work well in a niçoise salad — in fact, many recipes will explicitly list kalamata olives as a substitute for niçoise olives.

Pronounced NEE-swahs. A ripe olive with a hue that ranges from deep brown to black. Grown to be used for both table olives and olive oil. A delicacy, as the flesh-to-pit ratio is rather low.

What flavor are Nicoise olives? ›

What Do They Taste Like? Niçoise olives are salty and briny tasting due to the curing liquid. They also have natural sour, bitter, pungent, and oily flavors with nutty, winey, and licorice notes. The flesh is firm and the pit is large relative to the olive's overall size.

Garnishes for Salads

Vegetables (fresh or cooked), fruits (fresh or dried), cheese, proteins (meat, poultry, and fish), croutons, nuts, and seeds are options. Sprouts, flowers, and micro shoots are also possibilities.

A simple whisk of red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper dresses the salad. Julia suggests adding finely chopped herbs, such as parsley, or tarragon or a pinch of dried herbs.

Grown in southeastern France, niçoise olives are small and dark, with a large pit and a firm texture. They have a fairly strong, though not overpowering, flavor for their size.

Bound salad: ingredients such as meat, poultry, fish, egg, or starch such as potato, pasta, or rice and bound with mayo. Vegetable salad: cooked and/or raw vegetables (coleslaw); can be bound with mayo or mixed with vinegar/oil dressing.

Bound salads are probably not the healthiest option in the land of salads, but they are so delicious! The reason they are a less-healthy option is that the binding agents are typically mayonnaise-based. Some of the most popular bound salads are egg and tuna.

Salade Niçoise originated in the French city of Nice sometime in the 19th century. It's known as "la salada nissarda" in the Niçard dialect of the Occitan language. Between chefs there is much debate over which ingredients should be included. But one thing is certain, the salad is perfect for summer!