Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad with Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette

I planted way too much lettuce this year. That said, I’ll still do it all again next year! It was so much fun! Lettuce is so easy to grow, and we had lots of variety to go around. This year we did romaine, red leaf and butter lettuces. I literally have not had to buy lettuce at the grocery store since April. Our salad consumption has gone way up. Same goes for many of our neighbors, who are always welcome to come forage our garden. I loved being able to wake up early, pull some lettuce from the garden and make Mini Me’s salads for school lunches before school let out.

It also opened a Pandora’s Box of salad ideas. And with so many herbs also growing, what’s better than using them to make fresh, homemade salad dressings? This Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad with Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette lets you use so many of the seasonal veggies you probably have on hand, especially if you garden.

Why is it called a Nicoise Salad?

The Salade Nicoise is the most famous of all French salads. It’s named for the city where it originated – Nice. Nice is located in Provence, home of my favorite Rose wines. I cannot wait to visit one day! Traditionally, a Nicoise Salad was served as a first course or appetizer, ahead of the main meal.

What is in this Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad with Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette?

A Nicoise Salad typically contains tuna, haricot verts, black Nicoise olives and often has boiled potatoes and eggs. And aside from the dressing and the seared tuna steak vs. the traditional canned variety, this Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad stays pretty close to the original French recipe.

The red-skinned potatoes get a quick drizzle of olive oil and bake up crispy in the oven, and you’ll sear the tuna in a cast iron skillet to whatever doneness you prefer. You only need a few slices of tuna per person, so splurge on a good quality tuna steak. We also have green beans growing like crazy, and they add some good crunch to this salad. My favorite way to eat green beans is in their raw state. If you like them better cooked, just blanch them in a pot of boiling water for one minute, then plunge them into a cold water bath. It will make them super green and pretty.

I decided to use red leaf lettuce as the base for this salad. It’s the prettiest lettuce out there, and even prettier when you see it before it’s picked. The base of the leaves start out green, and the color kind of morphs into a purplish-red towards the top. They also have a pretty ruffled shape to them that’s just beautiful in salads like this one. Red leaf lettuce is supple and mild in flavor, not as crispy as romaine but not as soft as bibb or butter lettuce. Since it’s on the more delicate side, I like to dress red leaf lettuce with vinegar-based dressings vs. creamier ones. That said, I did sneak a little buttermilk into the Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette, and I’m not sorry about it.

The Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette

Tarragon gets less attention than the big summer herbs – ahem, basil – so I’m glad it gets the spotlight in this dressing because it deserves it! Tarragon is a natural complement to fish and seafood, so it was an easy choice for dressing this tuna-centric salad. It is also a great marinade for shrimp and really nice when gently tossed with lump crab meat and avocado.

I feel like many of my summer blog posts end with “serve this dish with a chilled bottle of white wine”! So in order to be less predictable, I’ll say this: Serve this Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad with Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette with a chilled bottle of Grenache-based Rosé. That better? Enjoy!

Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad with Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette

Inspired by the famous Provencal salad with roasted red potatoes, hard-boiled egg and haricot verts

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine French

Servings 2 entree salads

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 head of red leaf lettuce leaves washed and left whole
• 3 eggs hard-boiled
• 1/2 lb. ahi or yellowfin tuna
• 1 cup green beans
• 3 cups red-skinned potatoes sliced into rounds and/or wedges
• 3/4 cup pitted black olives
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. fresh tarragon minced
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp. minced shallots
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon
• 2 tsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry the potatoes, leaving the skins on. Slice into rounds and/or wedges and arrange on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake 20-25 minutes.
• While the potatoes are cooking, make the vinaigrette: Whisk the lemon juice, tarragon, buttermilk, shallot, Dijon, fish sauce and honey in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly until incorporated.
• To prepare the tuna, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Using your fingers, press a generous amount of salt and pepper into both sides of the tuna steak. Sear 3 minutes on each side. Remove to a cutting board and slice into strips.
• To assemble, arrange the lettuce leaves in a large bowl or serving dish. Top with tuna, eggs, green beans, potatoes and olives. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Keyword entree salad, gluten free, healthy, low fat

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