Martha's Salade Niçoise

4.4

(15)

2 Reviews

This classic composed salad is a colorful dish and a must-make during the summer.

Martha Stewart

Updated on August 9, 2024

Servings:

Martha’s Niçoise salad is one of her go-to dishes for summer entertaining. This colorful, composed salad is a filling dish that highlights fresh seasonal produce—including cherry tomatoes, haricot verts, baby potatoes, and lettuce—and it stars canned tuna. Be sure to use good quality tuna packed in olive oil—it really makes a difference. You will need to turn the stove on to quickly cook the potatoes and beans, and to hard-boil the eggs. Then, once you’ve made the rich dressing that brings it all together, all that is left to do is assemble the salad. Follow the setup Martha created, or be a little looser—with this delicious combination of ingredients, you can’t go wrong.

Ingredients

⅔ cup olive oil, plus more for tuna
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 tablespoon capers, finely chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
8 large eggs
½ pound haricots verts, stem ends trimmed
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
8 baby red potatoes
2 teaspoons dry vermouth
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head Boston lettuce
½ pint red cherry tomatoes
½ pint yellow cherry tomatoes
3 (6-ounce) jars imported tuna in olive oil, drained
½ cup Nicoise olives

Directions

Make dressing:

In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, shallot, anchovy paste, and capers. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cook eggs, cool, and peel:

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with several inches of cold water. Place the pan, uncovered, over high heat, stirring occasionally, until just before the water comes to a boil. Cover, turn off the heat, and cook for 12 minutes. Immediately transfer the eggs with a slotted spoon to ice bath. Let cool completely, about 5 minutes. Pat dry, one egg at a time; peel and halve. Set aside.
Cook haricot verts, then cool:

Prepare an ice bath. Fill a medium saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook haricots verts until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Immediately transfer beans, with slotted spoon, to ice bath. Drain well and pat dry. Drizzle with rice wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cook potatoes, cool, and slice:

Prepare an ice bath. Place potatoes in medium-sized pot. Cover with cold salted water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until fork-tender, about 8 minutes. Immediately transfer potatoes with slotted spoon to ice bath. Drain well and pat dry. Cut in half lengthwise. Drizzle with vermouth. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Toss lettuce with dressing and compose salad:

Toss lettuces with some of the anchovy-caper dressing and place on large serving platter. Toss potatoes, haricots verts, and cherry tomatoes separately with dressing and arrange over lettuce.
Arrange tuna over salad and drizzle with dressing; add eggs and olives:

Arrange tuna over salad and drizzle with dressing. Garnish salad with eggs and Nicoise olives.