Martha Stewart’s nicoise-inspired salmon salad will elevate summer lunches

While it’s always nice to freestyle a salad, sometimes coming back to a classic feels like a reset. A Nicoise salad is light and balanced, but also filling. Martha Stewart has her own version that can please a crowd or liven up your weekday lunches. 

On Instagram she wrote that, “The key to fantastic salads isn’t a laundry list of ingredients, instead it’s a few well selected ones with varied flavors and textures. “

First you’ll start on your dressing by taking your anchovies and mashing them with a spoon in a small bowl. Next, add your Dijon mustard and lemon juice, and whisk in your extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Related: Ina Garten would “happily” eat this salad every day — it’s that good

Next you will cook your potatoes. Add a tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil. Once your pot is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender enough to poke through with a fork, about 10-12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let them cool, halving them before you move on to the next step.

Now you will cook the salmon. Set your grill to medium-high. Brush your salmon with your oil, sprinkle with lemon zest and your remaining lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Lightly coat the grill grates with oil and place the salmon on the grill skin side down. Once your salmon is crisped and brown, cooked for about six minutes on each side, remove from the grill.

Begin boiling a pot of water to boil your eggs, and move on to the next step in the meantime.

Using a grill basket, toss your snap peas with your leftover oil and toss them over the grill until they are lightly charred in some spots, then set them aside.

Gently lower your eggs into the pot of boiling water and simmer for about 8 minutes. Once they have finished cooking, run them under cold water to stop the cooking process and make it easier to peel the shells. Halve them once you’ve peeled them all.

Finally you’ll pour about half of your dressing into a serving bowl. Add your potatoes and toss to coat them evenly. Add your watercress and repeat the tossing process. Flake your salmon into large chunks, and add to the bowl as well. Top with your egg halves, peas, and serve. You can prep this salad in advance, or save it for later and it will keep just as nicely. Find the full recipe and measurements here.

More super simple weeknight recipes from Martha Stewart: 

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