Poached Salmon Niçoise Salad
Although it has many variations, the classic salad of Nice, France, typically includes haricots verts—slender, young green beans—along with boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and lettuce.
Usually the salad also contains tuna, but, in this recipe, using poached salmon puts a new twist on the old favorite.
Ingredients
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups white wine
- 10 black peppercorns
- Salt
- 2 skin-on wild salmon fillet pieces (1 to 1 1/2 in. thick)
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
- 5 tablespoons white wine
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- Sea salt to taste
- 2 large bunches watercress, root ends trimmed, leaving stems intact
- 10 small yellow-skinned new potatoes, boiled until tender and cut in half
- 4 hard-cooked eggs, cut into quarters
- 1/4 pound haricots verts (French green beans) trimmed and boiled until tender-crisp
- 1/2 cup pitted Niçoise olives
- 3 tomatoes, cut into lengthwise wedges
Preparation
- To a large sauté pan, add bay leaves, salt, peppercorns, and wine. Add salmon and enough water to cover.
- Remove salmon and set aside; bring liquid to a boil, covered. Reduce to a simmer, then gently slide salmon into liquid and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, covered, until salmon is just opaque.
- While salmon is cooking, make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, mustard, and vinegar. Gradually whisk in oil until dressing is emulsified. Whisk in herbs and season with sea salt.
- Using 2 spatulas, remove salmon, place on a cooling rack and chill for 10 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Discard poaching liquid.
- Remove salmon from fridge and break into large pieces, discarding skin. On a plates, top watercress with pieces of fish, potatoes, eggs, green beans, olives, and tomatoes. Drizzle dressing over everything and serve immediately, accompanied by crusty bread.
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