I like to do a bit of research with recipes that are not mine and are more traditional – find out how they came about, variations and other historical bits. I feel like you should know about the original and traditional recipes before you think about starting to try messing with them and adding and removing bits to make your own version!
Salad niçoise probably has one of the most complicated histories of any dish I’ve researched. The Wiki article on it gave me a headache! Don’t get me wrong, I’m passionate about food but there have been fights between French purists who believe salad niçoise should only contain raw ingredients and tuna versus people like me who seek to add or remove things and make their own delicious version! Okay so fights may be an exaggeration but there’s no doubt that the French feel very strongly about salad niçoise and what should and shouldn’t be in it!
Depending on who you listen to, my recipe is actually mostly quite traditional – it’s delicious as is, so I felt no real need to mess with it too much in this instance. I use sun dried tomatoes and capers in quite a lot of recipes but I’ve never used them in a salad and so was a little worried whether it would work as a whole. Ultimately, blended altogether this is a delicious and filling summery salad and odd though the mix of ingredients may seem, they work! It’s a sitting outside on a hazy summer afternoon with a glass of beer or chilled white wine kind of salad, and even though I don’t drink anymore because of the Meniere’s, sat out in our completely paved suburban garden in the sun it gives you THAT feeling! You know the one I mean…..
Back to reality…….
As I said, I haven’t felt the need to make too many changes to this salad but there are always a couple of ideas that pop into my head with most recipes as I eat them – wouldn’t some sweetcorn go well with this? What if I added some avocado? Both of these are examples of things I might try with this at some point but I’m posting it as is because it’s just really good.
Of course the beauty of salad is that there’s always room for interpretation and creativity so mixing it up by adding random bits or taking out something that you personally don’t like is hardly ever going to ruin a salad, and you’ll enjoy it more – winner winner!
You may well already have a whopping great bowl of the proportions needed to toss a salad – I have a set of three bowls like these – the biggest one is about half the size of our bath. I use the huge one for salads, cakes, whipping cream and a million other things! If you don’t have one and want to make this recipe, I would highly recommend investing in at least one of them – or keep your bathtub free! They’re not the cheapest things but they last for years and you’ll get a ton of use out of them.
So please let me know what you think via the comments or by using the Contact Me form on the site – and feel free to tag me in your Facebook or Instagram posts or Tweets because I’d love to see your salads or anything else you’ve made! Enjoy DDx.
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Tuna Salad Niçoise
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
One of my favourite salads – tuna, roasted potato slices, sun dried tomatoes and capers all dressed in a tangy dressing and topped with hard boiled eggs.
Ingredients
- 450 g potatoes, unpeeled and thickly sliced
- olive oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons capers, soaked and drained
- 50 g sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 150 g spinach leaves
- 2 tins of tuna, drained
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / fan 180°C / 400°F.
- Put the capers in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
- Put the potatoes in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix until all the potatoes are coated and then lay out in a single layer on a baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes until cooked through and golden.
- Put the eggs in a pan of cold water and place over high heat until boiling. Boil for 6-8 minutes, then run under cold water for a few minutes.
- Cut the eggs in to quarters and put in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and all the other ingredients and toss together until combined.
- Serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
