Author's Notes: Nothing beats the heat like a giant salad for dinner. This Nicoise salad is full of hearty veggies and oil-packed tuna, and dressed with our delicious extra virgin olive oil and balsamic.

Salade Nicoise de LeRoux Print Recipe

Serves 4 as a main course

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of romaine lettuce, leaves separated
  • 4 hard cooked eggs, peeled and halved
  • 6-8 small red potatoes
  • 4-6 oz haricots verts
  • 4-6 oz fresh asparagus, trimmed
  • 4-5 breakfast radishes, sliced thin
  • 1 English cucumber, sliced on the diagonal
  • 5-6 cocktail tomatoes, quartered
  • 1/2 cup Nicoise olives
  • 2 2.5 cans high quality tuna, packed in olive oil & drained
  • 1/4 cup LeRoux Olive Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 6-8 leaves basil, cut into a chiffonade

Preparation:

  1. Fill a medium saucepan with water; season generously with salt. Place potatoes in the cold water and bring to a low boil. Cook until potatoes are just barely fork tender, then remove and let cool.
  2. Refill the saucepan with water, season again with salt and bring to a low boil. Add the haricots verts to the water and cook until crisp-tender and still bright green, about 2-3 minutes. Remove beans to a bowl of ice water to immediately stop the cooking.
  3. Add the asparagus to the same pan and repeat the cooking process, removing when it is just tender but still bright green. Remove spears to the bowl of ice water to cool.
  4. Remove the cooled vegetables to a clean dish towel to dry: do not let them get water-logged.
  5. For the dressing:
  6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon balsamic and mustard; add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
  7. To assemble:
  8. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large serving platter. Lightly sprinkle the tomatoes with salt. Add the potatoes to the bowl with the dressing; toss carefully, then place the potatoes on one section of the platter.
  9. Repeat with the asparagus, haricots verts, cucumbers and radishes; lightly toss, and arrange each on their own section of the platter on top of the lettuce. Finally add the salted tomatoes, with their own juices to the dressing, lightly toss and add to the platter.
  10. Place the drained tuna in large chunks onto the platter, then the olives. Sprinkle the basil around the salad. Serve and enjoy.