Niçoise Salad

This Niçoise Salad is kist what you need to make for an Easter lunch or dinner, just like we did. You will dazzle your family and/or guests with this beautiful, healthy, and easy to make platter. All that is needed after is to fix your plate and the rest takes care of itself. The five of us had our fill and we very well satiated after enjoying this for dinner. We had enough leftover to have our lunch meal prep for the rest of the week too so it’s a win-win.

Niçoise Salad

Ingredients

For the charred scallion pesto

• 12 scallions, white portion and some of the green portion
• 1 Tbs. canola or other neutral oil
• 2 cups (2 oz./60 g) packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup (1/2 oz./15 g) packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 4 oil-cured anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbs. capers
• 1 garlic clove
• 2/3 cup (5 fl. oz./160 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the salmon

• 1 1/2 lb.(6 filets) center-cut skin on salmon fillets
• 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb. (500 g) fingerling potatoes
• 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 lb. (375 g) green beans, trimmed
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 4 eggs
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 head Little Gem lettuce, stemmed and leaves separated
• 3/4 cup (3 3/4 oz./115 g) assorted olives
• 6 radishes, stems intact and halved lengthwise
• 1 avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
• Flaky sea salt

PREPARE

1. Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. To make the pesto, heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add the scallions and cook, turning occasionally, until charred and softened, about 10 minutes, adding the canola oil halfway through cooking. Transfer to a cutting board and trim the ends. Roughly chop the scallions, then transfer to a food processor. Add the basil, parsley, anchovies, capers and garlic and pulse until blended. While pulsing, pour in the olive oil and vinegar and process until smooth. Season to taste with kosher salt and a few generous grindings of pepper. Set aside.
3. To make the salmon, pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and brush with the mustard. Season with kosher salt and pepper, then drizzle with the olive oil. Roast until the salmon is opaque throughout, about 13 minutes for medium. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook until fork-tender, 8 to 15 minutes, depending on their size. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a large bowl; keep the water boiling for the green beans. Add the olive oil to the potatoes, season with kosher salt and pepper and toss to coat; set aside.
5. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to the ice water to stop the cooking; keep the water boiling for the eggs. Drain the beans, transfer to a medium bowl and toss with the lemon juice and pinch of kosher salt; set aside.
6. Add the eggs to the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl of cold water. When cool enough to handle, peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise.
7. Slice grape tomatoes in half and arrange the lettuce on a serving platter with the tomatoes on top of one corner. Break the salmon into large chunks, then arrange on the platter along with the potatoes, green beans, eggs, olives, radishes and avocado. Season the eggs and avocado with sea salt and pepper. Serve the charred scallion pesto alongside. Serves 6.