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This classic French composed salad is not only a delicously healthy feast for your belly, but a feast for the eyes!
Today’s post is sponsored by La Baleine. Opinions are my own and I appreciate your support of the brands and companies that support What Should I Make For…
I have a secret for you. Do you know what makes this seared tuna Niçoise salad impossibly delicious? It’s more than just using the freshest ingredients available, it’s also about seasoning them correctly.
And by seasoning I’m speaking about salt.
Salt is by far the most important ingredient in my kitchen and one that can transform the simplest and most basic of dishes into a delicacy. There’s often a misconception that salting should take place after your meal is prepared, but instead it needs to be used throughout the cooking process.
Salting throughout the cooking process builds layers of flavor, penetrating each ingredient. Tasting as you go is equally important. Maybe the dish needs a pinch more, or maybe you need to back off a bit.
You learn to trust your palate and in the end you’ll be left with a dish that is bright and flavorful, not salty.
I’m so incredibly lucky to be partnering with La Baleine today to bring you today’s recipe of seared tuna Niçoise salad. La Baleine is a favorite brand of mine that I’ve been using for years. They hail from the South of France and make the finest and environmentally-friendly sea salt in the world.
I’ve incorporated two of their salts into my Niçoise salad today, La Baleine Coarse Sea Salt and La Baleine Essentiel, a brand new product that contains 50% less sodium compared to regular sea salt and is the world’s first low sodium sea salt.
Let’s sear the tuna!
I’ve used a combination of the coarse and fine salts blended with freshly ground pepper as a rub for two thick ahi tuna steaks. Simply coat the fish with a little olive oil and rub the salt/pepper mixture on both sides.
Next, get your pan screaming hot and sear the tuna for just a few minutes so it’s perfectly rare with a flavorful and crusty outside layer.
Let’s make Seared Tuna Niçoise Salad
After you’ve seared your tuna, slice it thinly ACROSS the grain to avoid chewy, stringy bites.
Next, boil up some baby potatoes (I love a blend of yellow/white/purple for presentation), blanch your haricot verts (fancy for long green beans), and whip up your dressing. Salting your blanching and boiling water is also key for imparting flavor into the beans and potatoes as they cook.
A mustard vinaigrette is the perfect accent for the Mediterranean flavors in this salad and again, seasoning your dressing is key! I used La Baleine Essentiel in my dressing and once the salad is arranged, I sprinkled a little more over the top to make it pop.
A Niçoise salad is all about the plating. Compose it on a large platter instead of tossing it together with the dressing. I use the soft leaves of butter or Boston lettuce as my base and pile on from there.
First, mound on lightly dressed potatoes, followed by haricot verts, cucumbers, tomatoes, anchovies, sliced seared tuna, olives, and finally halved hard-boiled eggs. I recommend Niçoise olives, because, we are making a Niçoise salad, but oil cured olives can be used in a pinch.
I also love the briny, salty flavor of anchovies in a Niçoise salad, but all of you anchovy-phobes (you don’t know what you’re missing) can simply omit them.
Serve the salad with the dressing on the side or lightly drizzled over the top, and remember, don’t forget the salt!
Tips for success
- Don’t overcook the tuna! We’re looking for a hard sear on the outside and a perfectly rare center.
- Always slice your tuna against the grain to prevent chewy, stringy bites!
- Be sure to use salt in the blanching water and boiling water when you cook the haricot verts and potatoes for added flavor.
- Don’t over-cook the haricot verts! You want a nice, firm bite.
- Arrange the salad so it pleases the eye. Separate different colors and don’t be afraid to use red, yellow, and orange tomatoes or purple potatoes!
- You can use hard-boiled or even six-minute eggs in this Niçoise salad. To make a perfect hard-boiled egg: Place the eggs in a saucepan with just enough cold water to cover. Cover and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and leave covered in the pan for exactly 10 minutes. Place the eggs in an ice water bath and peel once they’re cooled.
This classic French composed salad is not only a delicously healthy feast for your belly, but a feast for the eyes!
- 2 lbs tuna steak (2 thick steaks)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (+ more for the pan)
- 2 tsp La Baleine Essentiel Salt
- 2 tsp La Baleine Coarse Sea Salt
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 head butter or Boston lettuce
- 1 lb baby potatoes, halved and boiled until fork tender
- 8 oz haricot verts, trimmed and blanched
- 2 cups cucumbers, sliced (I recommend baby cucumbers)
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (dry pint)
- 3 oz anchovies
- 1/2 cup nicoise olives (oil cured olives can be substitued)
- 3 large eggs, hardboiled, peeled and sliced lengthwise
- La Baleine Essentiel Salt, for seasoning
- 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 3 Tbsp sherry vinegar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp La Baleine Essential Salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
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Rub the tuna steaks with oilve oil. Combine the salts and pepper and rub onto both sides of the tuna.
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Drizzle a little more oil into a nonstick pan set over high heat. Place the tuna in the pan and sear on both sides, about 2 mins per side depending on the thickness of your tuna. I recommend very rare for this recipe.
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Remove the tuna to a cutting board and slice very thinly, ACROSS the grain.
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Whisk together all the ingredients except the olive oil. Add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream while continually whisking. (Alternatively blend in a mini prep food processor until emulsified.)
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Toss the warm potatoes with 2 Tbsp of the dressing and let stand.
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Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large serving platter in a single, overlapping layer.
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Arrange the ingredients over the lettuce in clusters in the following order: potatoes, haricot verts, cucumbers, tomatoes, anchovies, sliced seared tuna, olives, and hard boiled egg halves.
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Season with salt and serve with dressing.
- Don’t overcook the tuna! We’re looking for a hard sear on the outside and perfectly rare center.
- Always slice your tuna against the grain to prevent chewy, stringy bites!
- Be sure to use salt in the blanching water and boiling water when you cook the haricot verts and potatoes for added flavor.
- Don’t over-cook the haricot verts! You want a nice, firm bite.
- Arrange the salad so it pleases the eye. Separate different colors and don’t be afraid to use red, yellow and orange tomatoes or purple potatoes!
- You can use hard-boiled or even six-minute eggs in this Niçoise salad. To make a perfect hard-boiled egg: Place the eggs in a saucepan with just enough cold water to cover. Cover and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and leave covered in the pan for exactly 10 minutes. Place the eggs in an ice water bath and peel once they’re cooled.
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