Jen In The Kitchen: Summer Salmon Salad
I have never made a classic niçoise salad at home before, but when I came across this Bon Appetit recipe for Summer Salmon Niçoise, I was intrigued. I love salmon prepared just about any way you can think of – grilled, blackened, raw, smoked – you name it, and I love it. This salad calls for slow roasted salmon, seasoned simply with just salt & pepper. It cooked perfectly and was so easy to prepare. Sign me up!
Aside from the salmon, there are two other things I absolutely love about this salad. First, it has olives. It is really funny because when Paul and I first started dating almost 30 years ago, I had never tried an olive (at least not on purpose). He loves olives, and since those early years, I’ve never met an olive I didn’t love.
The second thing I love about this salad, is that while the preparation is a little involved, it does it’s best to make it easy. For example, the recipe calls for you to hard boil the eggs after you boil the green beans using the same pot of boiling water. Genius! I probably would have steamed the beans and then grabbed my instapot for the eggs. This was was so much easier, and less cleanup!
I did make three small modifications to the recipe, which are NOT reflected in the recipe listed below. The first mod was using green leaf lettuce vs. butter lettuce. I love both, but my grocery store didn’t have butter lettuce the day I was there. Romaine would work too. I also used green olives instead of black and added freshly chopped basil (because I have a big basil plant growing on my deck right now) to the dressing, which was delicious.
The only other change I made was I didn’t put the salad on a platter. Nope – not sharing! I kept the base of the salad in container (minus the salmon, eggs, olives, and dressing which I added at each meal) and feasted on this yumminess for 4 days. In a row.
I can’t wait to make it again. Maybe I’ll even share it with someone this time.
Makes 4 servings
- 8 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 lb. skinless salmon fillet
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 8 oz. green beans
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 small shallot
- 1 head of butter lettuce
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- A pinch of sugar
- ½ cup Niçoise or other black olives
Step 1: Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 300°. Pour 1 Tbsp. oil into center of a rimmed baking sheet, then arrange 1 lb. salmon over oil. Season salmon all over with salt and pepper, then drizzle with another 1 Tbsp. oil.
Step 2: Roast salmon until flesh flakes in the thickest part of the fillet with pressed gently, 30–35 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a medium saucepan three-quarters full with water. Add several generous pinches of salt and bring to a boil, covered, over medium-high heat.
Step 3: While salmon is cooking and water is coming to a boil, focus on the rest of your salad prep. First, trim stem end off of 8 oz. green beans. Then cut 1 cup of tomatoes in half.
Step 4: Peel and finely chop 1 shallot. Transfer to a medium bowl; set aside.
Step 5: Separate leaves from 1 head of lettuce and arrange across a large platter. Cover with damp paper towels and chill until ready to serve.
Step 6: When water is boiling, add green beans and cook until tender but still retain some snap, about 2 minutes. As you wait for the green beans to cook, fill another medium bowl halfway with ice water. Using tongs, remove green beans immediately (but leave boiling water right where it is) and transfer to bowl with ice water. Leave green beans there for 15–20 seconds, or just long enough to chill them completely, then remove from water and pat dry; set aside. Keep the ice water for cooking the eggs.
Step 7: Add 4 eggs to saucepan and cook exactly 8 minutes. Transfer to ice water bath and let cool 2 minutes. Peel eggs, keeping them submerged in ice bath as you work. Pat eggs dry and transfer to cutting board.
Step 8: Time to make your dressing: Add 1 T mustard, 1 T vinegar, and a pinch of sugar to bowl with shallot; season with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Whisking constantly, slowly stream in remaining 6 T oil until you have a thick, emulsified dressing.
Step 9: Remove platter with lettuce from fridge and drizzle with about one-third of dressing. Arrange green beans, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup olives over lettuce. Cut eggs in half and tuck into gaps on platter.
Step 10: Using your hands or a fork, flake off large pieces of salmon and arrange over salad. Drizzle platter with remaining dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
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