When you hear “Salad Nicoise”, you’re probably thinking of the chilled salad with potatoes, greens, olives and hard-boiled eggs. A refreshing staple for summer weather!

Well, here’s a winter version that makes a great break from heavy winter comfort foods.  We swapped out the tuna for roasted salmon, accompanied by crispy-on-the-outside roasted potatoes, cherry tomatoes and green beans. Served warm, of course.  

Even better—there’s practically no prep or cleanup because everything is cooked on the same pan.  Add some crunchy French bread on the side and you have a healthy, delicious meal, any day of the week.

 

Why we love these ingredients

Salmon is high in Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids EPA/DHA, which supports your heart, memory, skin, and hormonal balance. It’s also shown to help dampen the effects of inflammation.

In addition to being a great source of Vitamin C, A, Folic Acid and Iron, green beans are full of dietary fiber – containing 13% of your daily fiber requirement in just one cup. Fiber helps keep your digestive system moving and acts as a natural detoxifier, too.

Potatoes—so delicious, versatile, and gut friendly! Potatoes are full of “resistant starch”. This starch makes its home in your large intestine, where it acts like a prebiotic, or food source, for good bacteria. 

Resistant starch also creates a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate. Butyrate acts like an energy source for your gut, protects its lining and controls intestinal inflammation

 

Some pro tips to get you started

• Dry both sides of the salmon with paper towels before seasoning them. Drying the salmon will help it sear while cooking, instead of “steaming”. 

• Fish cooks quickly so keep your eye on the process. You’ll want to aim for four to six minutes per half-inch of thickness. Since most fillets are about one inch thick in the thickest part, start checking around eight minutes. When the fish starts to flake easily with a fork and the flesh looks opaque, it’s time for dinner!

• New potatoes are young, small potatoes that are freshly harvested. If you can’t find new potatoes, you can use small red or Yukon gold potatoes No need to peel—most of the nutrition is in the skin.

• This salmon recipe is topped with basil pesto. If you are looking for a way to cut down on your prep, you can find ready-made pesto at the supermarket. However, pesto is easy to whip together yourself. Just head to recipe at the bottom of the page. [PS: Basil is so good for you, too—it’s  potent antioxidant that supports blood sugar health].

 

Sheet Pan Salmon Salad Nicoise

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds new potatoes
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2 handfuls green beans 
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata or Nicoise olives
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 20 ounces salmon, cut into 4 filets
• 1/2 cup basil pesto
• Lemon, for squeezing

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Quarter potatoes and trim the ends from green beans. De-stem tomatoes, if necessary.
2. Season the salmon with olive oil, salt, and paper.
3. Place potatoes in a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Top with salt and pepper and then place in the oven for 30-45 minutes until starting to brown. Cooking time depends on the size of your potatoes. Stirring them every 15 minutes.
4. Once potatoes have started to brown, top with tomatoes, and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes add green beans, olives, garlic. Place the salmon on top, skin side down.  Reduce heat to 300 degrees F and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Top with pesto, a squeeze of lemon and serve.

 

Easy Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts (or chopped walnuts)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic [about 3-4 cloves]
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Place the basil leaves and pine nuts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times.
2. Add the garlic and Parmesan or Romano cheese and pulse several times more. Scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula.
3. While the food processor is running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady small stream. Adding the olive oil slowly while the processor is running will help it emulsify and help keep the olive oil from separating. Occasionally, stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor.
4. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Tip: Basil darkens when exposed to air. To store, cover tightly with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is touching the top of the pesto and not allowing the pesto to have contact with air.