Niçoise Salad with Bacon and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

What is a Niçoise Salad?

The Niçoise Salad is a French invention, most likely originating and named after the little town of Nice.

Traditionally, it's supposed to include tomatoes, olives, and anchovies. But, variations abound, and you can easily find it served with a wide range of vegetables, fish, and animal proteins.

What makes the Niçoise salad so fabulously versatile is that it's a "composed" salad. This simply means that all the different components are grouped together and served side-by-side instead of all mixed up, as you do with a "tossed" salad.

Why This Recipe Works

• This salad is the perfect dish to serve a group because each person can easily pick and choose the ingredients they want on their plate. It goes without saying that this also applies to the picky eaters in your life, bless their hearts.
• All the individual ingredients in a composed salad like this one can be prepared in advance and then simply arranged on a platter right before serving.
• This Niçoise salad recipe should be perceived as more of a guideline than a recipe. Swap out one ingredient for another as you please. Or, add even more kinds of veggies or protein. For example, use asparagus instead of green beans. Swap the bacon for tuna or roasted chicken. Toss in some roasted corn, or add a handful of quickly sautéed broccoli or cauliflower.

Obviously, Niçoise salad is an ideal way to showcase a bounty of perfectly ripe summer veggies.

But, it's versatility also makes it easy to serve in the middle of winter when you're reliant on frozen vegetables, potatoes, and jars of marinated peppers or artichokes.

Ingredients for This Niçoise Salad

• Bacon! You'll want about a pound of thick sliced bacon for this salad - the thicker the slices the better.
• Potatoes. Look for small round potatoes often called "new potatoes". Wash the potatoes, but leave them unpeeled.
• Unseasoned rice vinegar. After boiling the potatoes, give them a toss in a splash of vinegar. This is a delicious trick stolen from German Potato Salad. It makes the potatoes taste bright, fresh and flavorful! Unseasoned rice vinegar is nice and mild so it won't compete with any of the other flavors in this salad. White wine vinegar is also a good choice.
• 4 large eggs
• Fresh or frozen green beans. If fresh, snip off the ends and cut into 1-inch pieces.
• A red onion. Remove the outer skin of the onion, cut it in half and then cut each half into very thin slices that are about ⅛-inch thick.
• Cherry tomatoes. You can also use Roma or beefsteak, or any kind of tomatoes you like in this salad. I usually choose cherry tomatoes because they require no slicing and tend to be tasty year round.
• Marinated roasted bell peppers. Homemade Marinated Peppers are my preference for this salad. They are 100% better than anything you'll ever find in a jar, super easy to make, and will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. But, you can also just pick up a jar in the Italian section of your grocery store.
• Romain or Boston Lettuce. Wash your lettuce and cut into bite-size pieces. 
• Salt and pepper, obvi
• Pomegranate Vinaigrette. This simple pomegranate vinaigrette only takes a few minutes to prepare and adds a delicious slightly sweet and tangy zing to this Niçoise salad.
• Croutons. Homemade croutons are one of those things that are so simple to make and so delicious that I feel they're almost always worth it. This simple recipe will show you how.  Another option, is to simply sautéed some bread cubes in leftover bacon fat until golden and crunchy.

How to Make this Niçoise salad

Step #1: Cook the bacon

Chop up some thick cut bacon and cook it in a skillet until it's crispy. Lay it out on a paper towel lined plate to let it drain while you make the rest of the salad.

Step #2: Cook the potatoes

Fill a large saucepan about halfway with water and add enough salt to make the water taste salty - about 2 tablespoons. Toss in some small potatoes and bring the water to a boil.

Cook the potatoes until they are tender enough that a fork slides into them easily. Drain the potatoes in a colander set in the sink then dump them into a bowl along with a tablespoon of rice vinegar. Toss the potatoes around in the vinegar to coat, then set them aside.

Step #3: Cook the eggs

Fill a medium size saucepan about ¾ full of water and set it over high heat. When the water is boiling, use metal tongs to gently lower a few eggs into the pan.

Let the water come back to a full boil, then reduce the heat so that the water maintains a very gentle simmer with bubbles breaking the surface only here and there. Let the eggs cook in the gently simmering water for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs to a bowl of ice water, let them cool, then peel and cut into slices.

Step #4: Cook the green beans

If you're using fresh green beans, snap off the ends and cut the beans into 1-inch pieces. If using frozen green beans, there's no need to thaw them before cooking.

Fill a medium size saucepan about halfway full with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt, and bring the water to a boil. Add some fresh or frozen green beans and let them boil for about 3 minutes, just until they are fork tender.

Drain the beans in a colander that you've placed in the sink, and rinse them under cold water for a minute or two to stop them from cooking.

Step #5: Make some croutons (optional)

Homemade croutons are one of those things that are so simple to make and so delicious that I feel they're almost always worth it. This simple recipe will show you how. 

But when I make this salad, I almost always make some croutons using leftover bacon fat.

1. Cut or tear a few slices of bread into 1-inch pieces
2. Heat a few tablespoons of bacon grease in a skillet until hot
3. Toast the bread in the hot bacon grease until crunchy.
4. Sprinkle the croutons with a bit of salt towards the end of cooking.

Step #6: Assemble and serve the salad

You can either assemble the Niçoise salad on one large platter, or set out all the salad components and let each person build their own.

If assembling on a large platter, lay down the lettuce first, then arrange all the other components in groups over the salad. Either drizzle the dressing over the salad, or allow each person to dress their own.

Pass the croutons alongside the salad. Adding them directly to the salad will make them soggy.

FAQs and Expert Tips

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If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #alittleandalot on Instagram.