If you have never made or had a Nicoise Salad, then you have not truly lived!! That may sound aggressive but just trying to get the point across that a Nicoise (pronounced, Nee-Swah) is absolutely heavenly. If you are not familiar with a Nicosie salad, it originated in Nice, France and is typically made with tuna, hardboiled eggs, tomatoes, beans and a variety of other vegetables. The beauty of making your own, is that you can get creative and have a little fun like we did. Yup, that’s fun for us and it can be for you too. You will really want to add this recipe to your list because it’s absolutely perfect for entertaining! It’s so beautiful to serve, ridiculously delicious and it’s also really easy to make. Can’t beat that can you?
We added some red potatoes to our salad which is perfect if you are serving it for a meal in itself. We also added capers because well, if there’s an opportunity to add capers to anything, we are ALL IN!! Capers are like little gifts from heaven. Wow, those are some strong feelings for capers huh?
We started by steaming the potatoes and then during the last 3 minutes of cooking them, we tossed in the green beans to steam them as well. We do this so there’s less dishes to do. Brilliant right?
Have you ever grilled lemons? This part is a must, a game changer, a don’t skimp. Not only does it make them look so pretty, it brings out this delicious flavor and just ups the presentation to another level. Just heat up the grill pan and throw them right on. Let them get nice and golden brown.
Use a big serving platter to assemble all of the delicious ingredients of your Nicosie. The dressing on the side allows your guests to pile their favorites on their plate and create their own masterpiece.
Check out another beautiful salad for entertaining:
- 4- 5 New Potatoes (red or purple). - cut in half, steamed
- ½ pound green beans - steamed
- 1 lemon - sliced and grilled
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 6 tomatoes (on the vine or compari) - halved
- 1 large avocado - sliced
- 1 Tbsp capers
- 2 hard boiled eggs - cut in half
- 1 Tbsp chives
- 1 can tuna packed in oil
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 shallot - chopped
- 2 Tbsp honey
- juice of one large lemon
- ¼ C olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
- Steam potatoes over medium high heat in steamer basket for about 10 minutes until cooked through. Add green beans to steamer basket during last 3 minutes.
- Remove potatoes and green beans and set aside to cool.
- Slice lemon into ¼ inch slices and grill using grill pan or outside BBQ grill. Cook until nicely charred around edges.
- Assemble salad on large platter. Start by layering romaine around bottom of platter. Follow with remaining ingredients to create a beautiful display.
- Mix all ingredients except olive oil in a blender or use an immersion blender. Slowly add in olive oil until nicely combined.
- Serve salad with dressing on the side.
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