This is how we make Niçoise Salad for two, with tuna, potatoes, green beans, eggs, and plenty of fresh vegetables. We arrange everything over lettuce, then finish with a mustard and thyme dressing. It’s a meal we enjoy as much for its presentation as for its flavor.
Times are approximate and may vary depending on your equipment, ingredient sizes, and cooking pace.
Estimated calories per serving: 620
Equipment
- 2 Medium saucepans
- Colander
- Egg cooker (optional)
- Digital kitchen scale (grams and ounces)
Ingredients
Salad
- 8 oz (226 g) potato (we prefer red-skinned potatoes)
- 8 oz (226 g) green beans
- 2 eggs
- 8 oz (226 g) cherry tomatoes
- 3 oz (82 g) Bibb lettuce (can substitute Boston, butter, red leaf, green leaf, or romaine lettuce)
- 4 radishes
- 5 oz (142 g) albacore tuna (canned in water)
- 1 ¾ oz (47 g) Kalamata olives
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon capers
- 1 tablespoon sherry cooking wine
- salt (to taste)
- black pepper (to taste)
Dressing
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 10 g shallot (or red onion)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons stone-ground mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (or more to taste)
Steps
Preparation
- Scrub the potatoes and cut them into slices about ⅓ inch thick.
- Wash the green beans and trim the ends.
- Halve or quarter the cherry tomatoes, depending on their size. Place them in a small bowl, season with salt and black pepper to taste, and set aside.
- Separate, trim, and wash the lettuce leaves. Aim for 8 large leaves or 10 to 12 medium leaves.
- Trim and quarter the radishes.
- Drain the tuna if necessary and pat it dry with a paper towel.
- Slice the Kalamata olives in half.
- Finely chop the shallot.
- Measure the fresh thyme leaves.
Make the Dressing
- Whisk together the white wine vinegar, shallot, Dijon mustard, stone-ground mustard, fresh thyme, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl.
- Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking until the dressing is combined.
- Set aside.
Cook the Potatoes
- Place the sliced potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and season with salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer until fork-tender, about 5 minutes. The potatoes should be cooked through but still firm.
- Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the potatoes to a medium bowl, reserving the cooking water for the green beans.
- Drizzle the potatoes with the sherry cooking wine. Toss gently from time to time as they cool.
Cook the Green Beans
- Add more water and salt to the saucepan if needed to cover the green beans. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
- While the water heats, prepare a bowl of salted ice water.
- Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, until crisp-tender and bright green.
- Drain and immediately transfer the beans to the ice water.
- After a brief cooling, remove the beans, drain, pat dry, and set aside.
Cook the Eggs
- If using an egg cooker, follow the manufacturer's instructions for hard-boiled eggs. The whites and yolks should be fully set, but we like the yolks firm, tender, and creamy, which we call jammy.
- Alternatively, place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water by about 1 inch.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and remove from the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Drain and cool the eggs under cold running water.
- Peel the eggs in a bowl of cold water, cut into quarters, and set aside.
Serve
- Divide the lettuce between 2 plates, arranging the leaves to cover the surface of each plate.
- Arrange the potatoes, green beans, radishes, eggs, Kalamata olives, capers, tomatoes, and tuna over the lettuce.
- Pour the accumulated tomato juices into the dressing and stir.
- Drizzle the dressing evenly over both salads.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
This is the egg cooker we use.
This recipe takes some coordination since you can perform several tasks at once. Start heating the water for the potatoes while prepping the ingredients. Boil the eggs while the potatoes cook. Wash and dry lettuce while potatoes cook. Peel the eggs while the beans cook. You get the idea.
The cook time of about 40 minutes includes getting water to a boil.
Calorie Estimate
We estimate calories by adding the contribution of each ingredient using nutritional information from USDA FoodData Central, supplemented by manufacturer nutrition labels and other documented sources when needed.| Ingredient | Calories |
|---|---|
| Olive oil | 477 |
| Albacore tuna | 182 |
| Potato | 174 |
| Egg | 144 |
| Kalamata olives | 101 |
| Green beans | 76 |
| Cherry tomatoes | 41 |
| Bibb lettuce | 11 |
| Sherry cooking wine | 10 |
| Stone-ground mustard | 8 |
| Shallot | 7 |
| White wine vinegar | 6 |
| Dijon mustard | 5 |
| Radishes | 3 |
| Capers | 3 |
| Fresh thyme | 1 |
| Black pepper | 1 |
| Salt | 0 |
Entire recipe: 1,250 calories
Per serving (2 servings): 625 calories
All of Living in Beauty Recipes
We are working on a series of recipes that are easy to fix in an RV and are approximately 600 calories per person for two people. Ultimately, they will be compiled into “The Bean Counter Cookbook.”