Poor man’s tuna niçoise salad

When I’m overdue for a vacation with lots of sunshine, I cook the foods that I’ve had in my favorite places — and niçoise salad takes me right to where I want to be.

This salad is overflowing with vegetables and drizzled with a garlicky, herb-filled vinaigrette that you’ll want to keep on hand to enjoy with other meals.

The ingredients are simple, but the flavors are intense. Instead of searing a more expensive tuna fillet, I use Italian tuna stored in olive oil — hence this is the “poor man’s” version that still tastes like a million.

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

Niçoise olives are not always easy to find, so you can substitute any other black olive, preferably cured in oil.

You can prepare the ingredients hours before serving, then assemble the salad when you need it. I love to serve this for Shabbat lunch when I’m having a fish course, and it’s a beautiful option for a nice dinner any day of the week.

The salad and dressing are pareve.

Ingredients

For the salad:
1 bag spring mix or spinach
5-6 eggs, medium- to hard-boiled
1 pound trimmed green beans, steamed
1 pound small potatoes, boiled or steamed
1 large English cucumber or 6 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 pound cherry tomatoes, whole or halved
¾ cup niçoise olives or oil-cured black olives
2 cans Genova yellowfin tuna in olive oil

For the vinaigrette:
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¾ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried dill
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon sugar

You can prepare the eggs, potatoes and green beans a day ahead, just wrap them well and store individually in the fridge.

If you have a steamer pot with a tight-fitting lid, you can steam all the ingredients over medium-high heat. The eggs take 7-9 minutes, depending on how well done you prefer them. The green beans take 6-8 minutes, and the potatoes take about 20 minutes, or until fork-tender.

You can blanche the green beans and boil the potatoes and eggs the conventional way, if that’s easier for you.

Rinse the eggs, green beans and potatoes in cold water as soon as you take them off the stove. This keeps the green beans and the potatoes firm, and soaking the eggs in a bowl of cold water keeps them from overcooking.

When preparing the salad, slice the vegetables and eggs however you like.

Open the tuna cans and use a fork to flake the tuna into another bowl, with the oil. The olive oil from the fish has salt and a lot of flavor. Don’t grind the tuna down too fine.

Add a little black pepper if you like.

Use a mixing bowl or a Mason jar to prepare the vinaigrette.

Add the vinegar, Dijon mustard, shallots, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper, and whisk well.

Whisk in the olive oil slowly in a steady stream and don’t stop whisking for about 2 minutes. This will emulsify the oil with the vinegar and keep the dressing from separating.

This dressing will keep nicely in the fridge for about 2 weeks if sealed well.

This salad looks best laid out on a large platter. You can put the vegetables in groups over the top of the lettuce, or you can mix it all together.

I drizzle the vinaigrette over the potatoes and green beans before adding them to the platter, then serve the extra dressing on the side for those who’d like more.

Top off the salad with the chunked tuna and olives and serve with crusty bread or garlic croutons.

Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.