Nicoise: The nice salad from Nice

A Nicoise (say: nee-SWAZ) is the ultimate summer salad. It can be traced to the early 19th century Nice, France. The simple dish of anchovies, potatoes, tomatoes and green beans reflected Nice’s working class. As the dish grew in popularity and wealthier people embraced it, hardboiled eggs, tuna, and Nicoise olives were added. The simple salad has evolved, and it is now hard to find the classic version made famous by Julia Child.

Tinned fish fell out of favor when fresh fish became widely available. It now is easy to purchase Alaskan salmon or fresh tuna for searing or grilling. The fresh options are healthy choices and fit into the fashionable eat “whatever is seasonal” trend.

Recently, some tinned fish companies have exploded the market with aesthetically pleasing packaging. By positioning themselves as luxury ingredients at an affordable price, they have turned tinned fish into a trendy product.

The addition of preserved lemons, chili-crisp, and Calabrian Chiles, makes tinned fish the fun and modern ingredient. There are tinned fishes packed in extra virgin olive oil, the perfect product for this Mediterranean salad.

Nicoise salad is the perfect playground for tinned fish. It is THE meal on a plate. Green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, lovely salad greens, olives, hard-boiled eggs-and not one, but two tinned fishes-make this salad the ultimate summer dish. Not a tinned fish lover? No problem, serve the salad with thinly sliced steak, grilled chicken, grilled Halloumi cheese, baked or crumbled feta, more veggies, or fresh fish.

Nicoise salad is a festive, brightly colored dish using what is available in the market. At the beginning of summer, the tomatoes might be less riotously colored than later in the season. The potatoes can be a simple Yukon Gold or an indigo purple potato. Nicoise salad can be a VIP gorgeous dish for guests, or a simple dinner on the fly. Leftovers are perfect for lunch. I like to use smoked salmon and lots of hardboiled eggs and serve the salad for brunch.

I have seen Nicoise salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, and maki rolls. The constant for Nicoise salad is the Mediterranean diet mindset. Lots of veggies, good extra virgin olive oil and a healthy protein. I like to use fresh fish or high-quality tinned fish.

Nicoise Salad

The veggies can be cooked up to 2 days ahead of serving. The vinaigrette can be stored in the fridge for up 5 days.

Serves 4

For the vinaigrette

1 medium shallot, minced finely

2 clove garlic, grated on a microplane

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon water

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves stripped and chopped

3-4 anchovy filets (I like product packed in olive oil), chopped and smashed to a paste)

½ cup best quality extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine shallot, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, water, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, anchovies, and EVOO in a jar and shake until emulsified.

For the salad

1 pound waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold, red skin new potatoes, colorful Fingerling potatoes)

1 pound fresh green beans (French Haricots Verts, mixed green and yellow wax beans, or whatever the farmer’s market has)

½ pound tomatoes, (heirloom, grape tomatoes, or your best farmer’s market tomatoes)

4 cups best quality leafy lettuce (whatever looks good to you)

¾ cup best quality European style black olives (Nicoise, kalamata, oil cured, or whatever you like)

4 hard-boiled eggs, (I like my yolks cooked to a jammy consistency (9-minutes boiled, then cooled), sliced into quarters

8 anchovy filets

1 small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

8 ounces best quality tinned fish or cooked and chunked fresh fish (tuna, wild salmon, smoked salmon, or protein of your choice)

½ cup torn basil leaves

Garnishes: thinly sliced radishes, capers, fresh herbs

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook potatoes until a paring knife can be easily inserted.
2. Remove potatoes and cool, and add green beans to the water. Cook beans until tender with a bit of crunch remaining (about 6-8 minutes). Plunge beans into ice water.
3. Place potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes in a small bowl and toss with a small amount of vinaigrette.
4. Mound salad greens on a platter. Drizzle with a small amount of dressing. Arrange potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes on greens.
5. Add hardboiled eggs, anchovies, tinned or fresh fish, basil, onion, and olives.

I like my salad less composed, as it tastes and looks more natural. It is, after all, a salad and not a flower arrangement, but you do you! Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette and garnish if desired.

Upside Down Fruit Cake

A summer dinner would not be complete without taking advantage of gorgeous summer fruit. This a simple and delicious cake. I wrote this recipe using peaches, but it works well with berries, cherries, plums, nectarines, and even apples in the fall.

Preheat oven to 350°F, grease and line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment

For the fruit

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

⅓ cup granulated sugar

Zest and 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of sea salt

3 cups fresh seasonal fruit, sliced to bite sized pieces

For the cake

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup sour cream or plain whole-milk yogurt

Garnish: a dollop of crème fraiche if desired

1. Dot lined cake pan with butter. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the lined cake pan.
2. Toss fruit with zest, lemon juice and salt. Spread fruit over the sugar and butter. Set aside.
3. Sift baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour together into a small bowl. Set aside.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk butter, sugar, vanilla, and zest until smooth and the sugar is not gritty.
5. Add eggs and sour cream. Mix together.
6. Gently add flour mixture into wet ingredients, being careful not to overmix.
7. Spread cake batter over fruit. Smooth with a spatula.
8. Bake in preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Cool cake on a rack for about 10 minutes.
10. Loosen cake with a knife around edges before inverting onto a serving plate. Peel off parchment.
11. Cool before serving. 

Laura Frankel-a noted kosher chef, and cookbook author-serves as Director of Culinary Operations at CJE SeniorLife-Tamarisk NorthShore. She is also a product development specialist and has worked as culinary director for a media company.