Vegan White Bean Niçoise Salad
I have made many different versions of the niçoise salad on this blog, but this may be my favorite. Okay, I say that about every new version of every new recipe, but I’m really blown away by how much flavor capers add to white beans and give this vegetarian salad a hearty flavor.
Traditionally, this French-original salad comes with hard oiled eggs and tuna or anchovies. Now, capers are often associated with seafood (you may have heard of lemon caper sauces) – they’re little flower buds on plants that are pickled in a salty brine. They’re divine!
Capers have a lot of different uses and once you realize their power here in this salad, you may try roasting them or adding them to many different sauces, like some chicken piccata.
Now, if you’re looking for more traditional niçoise salads, try these:
White Bean Nicoise Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ pound small red potatoes quartered
- 8 ounces string beans
- 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 2.5 tablespoons drained capers
- olive oil to drizzle
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- 1 heaping cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 8-ounce container mixed greens of choice (your preference – anything but romaine works well)
- ½ cup pitted and halved kalamata olives
For the dressing:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons coarse ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the potatoes, then string beans, and the white beans, all divided into sections. Add the capers to the white beans. Drizzle everything with olive oil and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss each section together until coated. Roast for 25 minutes until potatoes are browned, tossing everything halfway through.
- While everything roasts, prepare the rest of the salad. For the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette together and set aside. Then, halve the tomatoes and set aside.
- Once the vegetables and beans are done roasting, assemble your salads. Divide the greens onto plates or bowls. Top each equally with green beans, potatoes, white bean-caper mixture, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and then drizzle over with dressing. Serve.
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