Salad Nicoise Vegan Style

Salad Nicoise is a popular French salad which originated in the early 19th century in the town of Nice on the French Riviera in France.

It is customarily served on a flat platter and includes some green beans, tuna, hard boiled egg, tomatoes and perhaps some some boiled potato. My vegan style platter is different but both delicious and interesting and gives you a good visual of a plant-based meal.

Originally the traditional salad was very meager and was made with simply tomatoes, anchovies, and olive oil. It was considered the poor man's salad. Many new versions have popped up over the years including adding tuna instead of anchovies.

My vegan version is served on a flat plate and includes lightly steamed green beans, boiled quartered potato, chick peas, artichoke hearts, sprouts, avocado, and fresh dill and other herbs. Of course everything on my platter meets gluten-free standards as well.

I enjoy it as a perfect summer salad on a hot day. I eat it plain, but you could easily serve it with a creamy dressing such as (link) my oil-free creamy dressing. 

With the chickpeas, this beautiful salad could be considered a full meal for lunch or a starter for a light dinner with a bowl of homemade soup such as my (link) roasted carrot and tomato soup.

The green beans need to just lightly cooked so they remain both bright green and crisp. I use this method to cook the green beans.

Which ever way you choose, salad Nicoise is filling, nutritious, easy to make, and delicious.

The Simple Method for Perfect Green and Crisp Green Beans!

Clean you green beans, snip off the ends, and drop into a pot of boiling water for 1-2 minutes (or in Instant Pot for zero minutes). Turn off the heat.

Using tongs, remove the green beans and drop into a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking and seal the green color and crispiness. 

Remove from ice water and pat dry. Stores for up to 24 hours.

Author of Blog: Judee Algazi

Prep Time for Assembling: 5-10 minutes

Serves: 2

I prep everything in advance and then just assemble. I usually use leftovers so everything is cooked.

Ingredients: 

2 boiled potatoes, quartered

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

6 artichoke quarters   

handful of peas shoot sprouts

1 cup of cooked chickpeas

A few leaves of artisan romaine lettuce from a small head

half of an avocado, sliced 

Fresh herbs (dill, thyme, mint, basil)

Optional: whole scallions, capers, olives, roasted sweet potato or butternut squash.

Directions: 

Assemble all ingredients on a flat platter. Serves two for a full lunch or light dinner.

Notes: 

1. I used Trader Joe's frozen artichoke hearts and simply pan cooked them in a skillet for 5 minutes. I had leftovers from the night before's dinner. You could use artichoke hearts from a jar.

2. You could use any leftover cooked vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, roasted butternut squash.

3. I am growing herbs in my garden in pots and am enjoying snipping fresh herbs for salads! I buy the plants for a local farm and plant them in pots. They will grow all summer and are perfect for salads.