When you bring fresh tuna home, the first thing many of us say is, "Do we have soy sauce and wasabi??" It's a delicious way to enjoy tuna, but for anyone out there looking for something new and absolutely delicious (obviously), I very much recommend you try my Tuna Niçoise Salad. This salad is loaded with goodies like roasted potatoes and parmesan green beans, and drizzled with a quick herb vinaigrette.
It's a bit of a process for "just a salad" but let's be honest, it's worth it.
How to Make a Tuna Niçoise
Tuna Niçoise is a French dish that's generally served with fresh seared tuna, vegetables, hard boiled eggs and a delicate green like red lettuce, with a light vinaigrette.
For my recipe, I immediately take out the eggs because no thank you, but if you like hard boiled eggs then you do your thing and add those suckers in.
My favorite niçoise salad toppings are capers, niçoise olives, steamed and seasoned green beans, roasted potatoes and sliced tomatoes. You could also add in sliced radishes or cucumber, and chefs like Jacques Pépin make theirs with peeled and sliced roasted bell peppers.
The Ingredients & Tools Needed
You'll want to be sure to have the following tools to make this salad:
There will be other tools you might need besides these, such as a garlic mincer if you'd prefer, but this is a good starting point to have ready to go.
Making the Herb Dressing
To make the herb dressing, you'll want the following ingredients:
Assemble all the ingredients together in a jar and shake vigorously. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end, but you'll probably end up with about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of each.
The Green Beans
The green beans give this salad an extra boost of flavor, because they are seasoned with lemon juice and parmesan cheese. This is why you don't see the lemon juice in the dressing recipe.
You'll first start by steaming the green beans, which I do right in the bag and is the easiest. Just look for ones that say "Steam in the Bag".
After that, let them cool for a few minutes, then squeeze the juice of 2 lemons over top and grate about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese over. Stir to combine and set aside.
The Roasted Potatoes
For the roasted potatoes, I like to look for the baby gold potatoes, which cook faster and have a nice little bite to them. I start by cutting them into halves or quarters (some are smaller than others, s0 you just want to make them all similar in size), and boil them in salted water for 5-6 minutes. Once done, they should be fork tender. Put them on a baking sheet and spread them out in an even layer, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 375 for 10-12 minutes. This just gets them a little crispy but not mushy.
The Olives & Capers
It's important to look for actual niçoise olives, which you can find in most grocery stores at their olive bars, otherwise a pitted kalamata olive will do fine as well. These are what really gives the dish its unique flavor, along with the capers, so that you have a brine-y, salty flavor to go along with everything else.
The Best Part - Seared Tuna
If you're not using fresh caught tuna of your own, be sure to ask your fish monger for sushi-grade tuna. You want to use the freshest tuna possible.
To get a good sear on your tuna, start by patting it dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. This will give it an even sear. Next you'll want to season both sides of the tuna with whatever you like, most popular being sesame seeds, however I love Everything But The Bagel seasoning, which gives it a little extra boost of flavor.
Once seasoned, heat a heavy bottomed non-stick pan over medium-high and add a little bit of oil to the pan. Once the oil starts to shimmer, it's ready for the tuna. Carefully place the tuna down and don't touch it for 3-4 minutes, allowing it to sear, then use tongs to flip the tuna over, cooking for another 3-4 minutes. you only want to cook the first 1/2 inch or so of the tuna, leaving the middle raw.
Let the tuna sit on the cutting board to cool for about 5 minutes, then use the sharpest knife you have (or use a knife sharpener) and slice the tuna against the grain (as shown below on the left).
Assembling the Tuna Niçoise Salad
I like to use chopped red lettuce for this, or butter bib lettuce. Both are delicate for the salad with just enough crunch. In addition to the green beans, potatoes, olives, capers and tuna, I love to add sliced tomatoes to mine.
Be sure to use some of the lemon juice from the green beans as well to mix in, then drizzle everything with your Herb Vinaigrette.
I promise you will absolutely love this, even if you're a tough guy and don't normally eat salads ;).
Bon appetit!