[Salade Niçoise] French beach style salad - Nice style Full meal salad

French Open kicked off today!

It is an event I get excited for so very much!

Hope my superstar, aka Roger Federer, will win his 17th grand slam title!

In celebration of 2012 French Open, :)

I decided to post about my favorite salad in the whole world, Salade Niçoise, which is more than a mere salad.

Salade Niçoise can be a full meal since it contains subtantial ingredients sufficient for a meal.

It is served as a summer dinner meal at my household. :)

 I've been in Nice only once in my freshman year, with whole bunch of male friends, in two Espaces.rip (minivan from Renault)

It was a budget road trip from Paris to Rome, and Nice was originally planned as  a pit-stop.

Most beaches in Nice, if not all, are topless beaches.

Well, I learned later that tanning topless is a feature of public beaches in France.

Consequently, guess what happened.

The guys who were my travel partners didn't want to leave Nice!!

I was the only one who freaked out, but nobody cared, as half-expected.

Thank Goodness, we had booked the hotels in Genova. Otherwise, we must have been stuck in Nice for the entire week.

I don't havej courage to be topless. That's why I've been avoiding Nice since then. :)

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love Côte d'Azur that comprises Nice, Cannes, Grasse, and even Monte Carlo.

But, believe or not, I haven't had chance to visit its beautiful beach, again. Someday... :)

I had my first salade Niçoise a few years later, in Paris.

It was one awesome salad!

But, the one I had was not an authentic salade Niçoise.

An original Salade Niçoise shouldn't include any "cooked vegetables" such as potatoes or

green beans.

I respect and like the authentic version.

But, to make it more substantial,

I prefer adding potatoes, and especially green beans which is one of my favorite vegetables,

in the deviated version of Salade Niçoise.

Here goes the recipe of Susbtantial Salade Niçoise:

Ingredients

Vinaigrette1 shallot or 1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tablespoons Caper
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup (or 6 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 whole pepper, grated

Salad5-6 oz green beans, cooked and drained
2 potatoes, cooked and sliced
3 eggs, hard-boiled and cut into wedges
Romaine lettuce, as much as you want, washed and drained
2 celery stalks, cut into small pieces
2 tomatoes, sliced or 1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tuna can, drained
25-30 black olives, pitted
1 can of tuna, drained
1 freshly opened can of flat anchovy fillets

How to make:

1. First, make vinaigrette. Either shake all the ingredients together in a lid-topped jar, or mix them individually as follows. Stir the shallots or onions together with the mustard and salt.

Whisk in the vinegar. Beat in freshly ground pepper.

 

Meanwhile, cook potatoes, green beans, and eggs.

Slice, or cut accordingly.

2. Place sliced potatoes in a bowl and mix with 6 tablespoons of vinaigrette.

3. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter or in a bowl.

4. Pour potato + vinaigrette misture over lettuce.

5. Toss the green beans, (cherry) tomatoes, and eggs and celery.

6. Add anchovy fillets and black olives, just before serving.

7. Pour vinaigrette over the prepared salad.

This is a perfect salad to be a not-so-light, but still healthy meal.

Enjoy!

Salade Niçoise