Delicious, healthy and beautiful Niçoise Salad Cups — a lovely display of fresh ingredients!
My parents bought their house, where my dad still lives, over 50 years ago.
They’ve always been so fortunate to have wonderful neighbors. I’m not talking about just nice — I’m taking about really good-will-do-anything-for-you people. Everyone looks out for each other — and they’re friends. Real friends.
When my dad was in the hospital a few months ago, there were phone calls, emails, texts, flowers, cards, food, etc. And when my mom passed away, there was all of that and then some.
One of the neighbors, John, has lived right next door for over thirty years . Not only is he everything I mentioned above, but there’s an additional benefit to knowing him — his passion for, and expertise in fishing.
My family has eaten a whole lot of fresh fish John’s caught over the years. Really fresh, super delicious fish!
John recently gave me a gift, along with a culinary challenge.
He gave me a beautiful albacore tuna loin from a recent fishing excursion. He wanted me to see if I could prepare it in a way his wife Dana, might like it. You see, Dana isn’t a fan of “fishy” fish, which Albacore can sometimes be. And she prefers tuna fully cooked, as opposed to raw or just seared.
I was determined to make this somewhat fishy fish more mild, add some delicious flavors to it, work it into a super tasty recipe, and have Dana love it.
How to Make a Fish Less Fishy
Soaking fish in milk for a brief time can help remove some of the fishiness, so I knew that would be step one. For the science behind this, check out this explanation from Cooks Illustrated. And to see how to do it, and check out instruction no. 1 in the salad portion of the recipe below.
It worked!
After the milk-soaking process, I added a rub-like marinade with fresh herbs, garlic and a little olive oil to the tuna. Then I cooked it in a very hot sauté pan — caramelizing it to perfection.
As you’ll note in the recipe, you can cook it as long or as little as you’d like — assuming it’s a very high quality/sushi grade fish, like this. (Here’s some information on purchasing sushi grade fish.)
The tuna can be thinly sliced, and in some cases, it will almost “flake” apart.
(You’ll notice some pieces look more rare than others — the loin is thicker in the middle, so the ends are well done, which is the portion I gave Dana.)
Then one step at a time, it became part of a delightful Niçoise Salad.
The lettuce cups . . . .
Topped with avocado, fresh dill and hard boiled eggs . . . .
And the tuna, of course . . . .
Followed by a sprinkling of olives, capers, tomatoes and onions . . . 
And finished with a drizzle of Honey-Lemon Dressing.
Dana loved it! Yay!
And so did the rest of us. 
I hope you all enjoy every bite!
Maybe you’ll invite some neighbors over to try these lovely Niçoise Salad Cups!
Delicious, healthy and beautiful Niçoise Salad Cups -- a lovely display of fresh ingredients!
*Please note that 30 minutes of the prep time is marinating time, and if you do the milk soak, it will add an additional 20 minutes.
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (approximately 1-pound) albacore tuna loin
- 3/4 cup milk, 1 or 2% — optional (see recipe instruction no. 1)
- 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, washed and dried, finely chopped fresh oregano
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, washed and dried, finely chopped fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus a bit more for the pan)
- 4 large hard boiled eggs, sliced thinly
- 2 small heads butter lettuce
- 12 small dill sprigs, washed and dried
- 1/2 small to medium sized avocado, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup Nicoise or Kalamata olives, pitted, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup tomatoes, seeded
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 tablespoon yellow onion, finely chopped
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
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In a very small bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the mustard and honey, and then gradually add the oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
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If you prefer your fish to be as mild as possible, to remove some of the “fishy” taste from the albacore, soak it in the milk for 20 minutes. You can do this in a large zip-lock bag or a bowl, and it should be refrigerated. When you remove it from he milk, pat it dry with paper towels and proceed with the recipe.
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In a tiny bowl, mix the oregano, thyme, garlic and olive oil together. Place the albacore in a large baking dish and then rub the herb mixture all over it. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate for 30 minutes.
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Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil and place it over high heat. Once it’s very hot, sprinkle the marinated albacore with salt and pepper, and then add it to the pan. You should hear it sizzle when it hits the pan — otherwise, wait until you do. Sear each side of to brown it nicely, and then turn the heat to low-medium to cook it to the desired doneness. To cook it through, it will be about 7 minutes or so. To keep the center rare, it will be about 4 minutes or so. Remove it from the pan and set it aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
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Cut the root ends off the lettuce heads and carefully pull off about 1 dozen leaves. Use a damp towel to gently clean them and place them on a large serving platter, round side down.
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Add a small dill sprig to each lettuce leaf, followed by 1 or 2 avocado slices and about 2 slices of egg. Now thinly slice the albacore, and evenly distribute it among the lettuce cups, on top of the egg. Then sprinkle the entire platter with the tomatoes, olives, capers and onion.
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Drizzle the desired amount of the dressing over the lettuce cups and serve.
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This looks just delightful, Valentina! And the presentation is stunning!
Thank you, David!! Hope you have a great weekend. 🙂
I love that you added fresh dill. It’s my favourite fresh herb and brings so much flavour.
Thanks, Jacqueline. I love dill too, and I don’t use it enough. 🙂
Tasty and healthy salad. So many flavorful things in there.
Thanks so much, Roxana. Tasty+ healthy = perfection. 🙂
This looks so fresh and delicious. I would love to have this for lunch.
I hope you do! 🙂
Omg this is perfection! I cannot wait to try it and LOVE seared tuna!
Yay! Thanks and enjoy!
This salad is a must-have for me! I have to try it.
I hope you try it! 😀 Thanks!
These look so good and the pictures are incredible!
Thanks so much!! I hope you try them. 🙂
That looks wonderful. I’ve only seen tuna belly in cans, imported from italy and Spain! You’re so lucky!
There is nothing not to love about this salad. So fresh, gorgeous and filled with the perfect ingredients.
How wonderful you know a fisherman. I can only imagine how amazing his catches are.
Thank you, Cathy! Yes, good culinary connections are the best. 🙂 xo
Lovely post!
So delighted to see your post and and its one of my fav comfort food!
Keep sharing your best and look forward to your future creations and write ups.
Thanks and much luv
Sonia
Thanks so much Sonia! Hope you try it! I will check out “My Creative Flavors.” 🙂
Nicely done! I especially like the way you’ve composed this salad. I love Salade Niçoise – it one of my favorite dishes. So, I had it in many excellent restaurants, and have composed a few myself. The way you’ve composed yours almost makes it into a finger food – you could so easily pick up one of those leaves and treat it as a wrap. I would go nuts for that!
Thanks so much, Jeff! I’ve always love Nicoise salads too. Hope you give this one a go. And yes, it’s like a “taco.” 🙂
I’m sure Dana loved it as the rare to not so rare cooking method is genius. I’ve been known to fold that flap under without getting the variation your pix so beautifully shows. GREGGREG
Thank you! She did like it. Phew! 😉 xo V
This is amazing! We have had albacore tuna occasionally when hubby catches one as it is not a fish for sale outside of the large cities. You have prepared this beautifully, soaking it in milk is a great idea but then frying it quickly with garlic to enhance the flavour and then to turn it into a nicoise salad cup is purely brilliant. The dressing is sensational too, thanks for sharing this wonderful dish.
Hi Merryn, Thanks so very much – you made my day. 😀 I’m so happy you love it! So fantastic your husband catches it! Must be SO fresh and delicious! Cheers and happy cooking. ~Valentina