Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show: Food 911Episode: French Bistro Bonjour!

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (8)

Cook Time:
25 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
8 servings

Times:

Prep: 20 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 25 min
Total:: 45 min

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Ingredients

Vinaigrette:

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:

1 pound small red new potatoes, scrubbed and halved
8 large eggs
1/2 pound haricots verts or French green beans, stems trimmed
2 pounds fresh sushi-quality tuna
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pint teardrop or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup nicoise olives
16 anchovy fillets
16 caper berries with stems
1/2 bunch fresh chives, snipped in 1/2

Directions

To make the vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Screw the cap on the jar and shake the vinaigrette vigorously to emulsify. Set the dressing aside while preparing the salad so the flavors can marry.

Cooking the potatoes, eggs, and green beans in the same pot cuts down on prep time and clean up. To do this, put the potatoes in a large saucepan, add water to cover and a nice pinch of salt; bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer the potatoes for 12 minutes to give them a head start, and then add the eggs. Place a steamer basket or colander on top of the simmering water. Put the green beans in the steamer and cover with a lid. Steam the beans for 5 minutes until crisp-tender while continuing to cook the potatoes until fork tender. Drain out the water and put the potatoes, eggs, and green beans in a colander; rinse briefly under cold water. Peel the shells off the eggs and cut them in 1/2 lengthwise.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the tuna on all sides with olive oil, and a bit of the vinaigrette; season with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Lay the tuna in the hot pan and sear for approximately 2 minutes on each side; as the tuna cooks, the red meat will become whiter. Transfer the tuna to a cutting board and slice.

To assemble the salad: combine the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, olives, anchovies, capers, and chives in a large mixing bowl. Take the vinaigrette and give it another good shake to recombine. Drizzle the salad with enough vinaigrette to fully moisten and toss gently to coat; season with salt and pepper. Take care not to mush up the ingredients - the important thing about salad nicoise is that it is arranged nicely on a platter with all the elements keeping their individual integrity. Put the tossed salad down the center of a serving platter and lay the seared tuna attractively across the top and the eggs around the rim. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette and serve.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna
Jason Glen Burnie, MD 10-30-2009
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Maybe the best salad I've ever had
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My place of business offered Nicoise Salad Classique and I gave it a shot. The ingredients, individually, were mid grade... quality but it was the dressing that really had me intriguied. I came here to find a recipe (as I do for most recipes) and I tried this one, first, and probably won't try anything else. For a salad, it's easily the best one I've ever had. Because of the protein from the tuna, however, I eat this as a meal in itself and as a stand alone dish, it ranks up there for the best and one of my favorites (it's pretty easy, too). I only seared the tuna for 1:30 each side but that was the ONLY deviation of the recipe. For simplicity, quality and taste, this should be given a 6th star.Read more
recipe Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna
charlotte venice, FL 03-29-2009
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Stunningly delicious, and beautiful to see
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

The tarragon dressing is key, and the anchovies and capers are over the top. Bravo. Maxiesma
recipe Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna
Marly Burbankc, CA 12-03-2008
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DE-LICIOUS
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This salad was excellent. It takes a lot of different ingrediants, but it's worth getting the best that you can get.... Especially with the tuna. It was fairly easy to make - I boiled the potatos and eggs as directed the night before, and made the dressing. I did the green beans and everything else the next day, and dressed it about 20 minutes before I was ready to serve (I was having a dinner party), and it didn't get soggy at all. It was a BIG hit.Read more
recipe Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna
Mary Bolton, MA 07-20-2008
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Amazing
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Spectacular combination of flavors and plates wonderfully. I had this warm initially and then cold as leftovers and both were... amazing. Use really good sushi grade tuna and sear only for less than a minute per side, you want to be able to enjoy the buttery texture of the raw tuna.Read more
recipe Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna
Cari Chandler, AZ 06-23-2008
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Easy, Healthy Delicious
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

We made this salad with three small and successful variations. 1 - we used only 2 anchovy fillets and put them in the... dressing. We made the dressing in the mini food processor so that everything was well incorporated. 2 - we used a bamboo steamer to cook all of the vegetables and the egg - potatoes sliced and on the bottom rack with the eggs for about 9 minutes before adding the green beans to the top rack for the last couple of minutes. 3 - we put a bed of greens down on the plate and hit them with a bit of the vinaigrette before plating tuna and the other veg. This recipe was easy, full of flavor and obviously is very, very healthy. We enjoyed it immensely.Read more
recipe Salad Nicoise with Seared Tuna
Anonymous 07-13-2006
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Expat in the Netherlands
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I made this recipe tonight to a great review from my husband. It was a warm summer day and this was the perfect meal for... dinner. I was unable to find tuna at the fish store today, so I made the recipe with a bit of a twist. I substituted the tuna with shrimp. The recipe was easy and very tasty. The dressing really does compliment the salad well. This is a keeper recipe and I look forward to making it again, when I am able to find fresh tuna. Thank you Tyler for another great recipe.Read more