Autumn Salade Niçoise with Quail Eggs

One of my favourite salads to serve as a meal has got to be a delicious Salade Niçoise. 

Today’s version is made even more special thanks to Spring Creek Quail Eggs! I’ve partnered with them to create a salad that is perfect for the autumn season.

Classic Salade Niçoise

As the name suggests, it is a French classic composed salad originating in the southern French city of Nice. Going down the rabbit hole of what is acceptable according to the purists really can open a can of worms. Some have harsh words to say if they see any boiled vegetable, fish, corn, or a mayo dressing used. I am opting for the way that we have come to know Salade Niçoise over the last 100 years or so: that fresh and tasty combination of juicy tomatoes, crisp green beans, briny niçoise olives, creamy baby potatoes, hard boiled eggs, and some fish. And incorporating quail eggs instead of the typical larger chicken hard boiled eggs just adds such visual appeal.

Quail Eggs De-mystified!

Do you walk past quail eggs in the grocery store?  Next time, stop!  Quail eggs are really good, and good for you.  They’re as good, if not better than chicken eggs!

When compared to a chicken egg, a quail egg provides about twice the amount of iron, plus greater doses of calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc. When it comes to vitamins, quail eggs far surpass chicken eggs in vitamin B2 and also beat them in vitamins E, B1, B3, B5 and B12.

And if you are concerned about cholesterol, then remember this:

It’s true: egg yolks do have relatively high cholesterol content. But let’s crack open the biggest myth about them: that their cholesterol content is bad for your heart health. While there’s a lot of cholesterol, more than half of it is good cholesterol (HDL), which lowers the bad cholesterol (LDL) in your blood. And research has shown that cholesterol consumed through your diet has minimal relationship to heart disease. Plus, the antioxidants in quail eggs prevent their cholesterol from being a health risk. A 2018 study even showed eggs to be associated with a lower risk of heart disease. All this being said, anyone with high cholesterol levels should always be careful with their cholesterol intake, even when it comes to quail eggs.

See here for even more great reasons to be adding quail eggs to your diet from Spring Creek Quail Farms.

How to Boil, Peel and Store Quail Eggs

One question I often get is how to boil and peel quail eggs since they are so small (by the way, aim for three eggs to replace one chicken egg). So here is the method that I found works great:

Place the eggs you want to boil into a small pot and cover with cold water and 1/2 tsp of baking soda (the baking soda will help the shell separate from the egg).  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  As soon as the water comes to a boil, put a lid on the pot and remove it from the heat.  Let it sit for 6 minutes.  Then drain the hot water and run the eggs under cold water for 30-40 seconds.

Place 5 or so eggs at a time in a small food storage container (not glass) with a lid. Pour about 2 tbsp of water over the eggs and put the lid on. Give the container a good few shakes.  The water acts as a buffer as the eggs bump into each other and loosen the shells.  Then one at a time, tap the wide part of the egg on the counter and start peeling.  You will find that the shell starts to peel away quite easily. Repeat till you have all your eggs done. 

To store the eggs in the fridge until use, or overnight, place them in a container with a lid and cover with cold water.  Now they are ready to go into the fridge.  The next day they will be fresh, hard boiled eggs!

Making This Salade Niçoise Autumnal

First thing we will do is give the salmon filet a brush of a delicious autumn inspired glaze before roasting it in the oven. It is rich, sweet and tangy thanks to an aged balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, grainy mustard and garlic. It will create a wonderfully burnished exterior that will pair well with the other ingredients on the plate.

So how do you take a fresh summer time salad and make it perfect for the autumn days we are enjoying? All you need to do is switch up a simple oil and vinegar dressing for a lovely dressing using maple syrup, apple cider and rich balsamic vinegar, along with some dijon mustard. This dressing has the best autumn vibes, and is perfect for all your autumn salads, so keep it close by.

Method

This Salade Niçoise requires a few steps so that it can all come together at the same time.  First things first, as described above, you can make the eggs ahead of time, even the night before.

The ingredients requiring cooking are the fingerling potatoes, salmon, and green beans.  So let’s start with the potatoes.  Par-boiling them on the stove top guarantees that they will finish roasting in the oven in minimal time.  Have two baking sheets ready, one for the potatoes, the other for the salmon.  The potatoes can begin roasting after they are boiled, and in the last 20 minutes, the salmon can be added to the oven. Both should finish at the same time. 

When the potatoes and salmon are near finished roasting, you can steam the green beans.  They will be ready in minutes.  Now everything is ready to plate.

Assembly

Grab your favourite large platter and lay a layer of leaves of little gems lettuce (or any other lettuce, like red oak, but torn if they are large) on it.  This creates a lovely base for your salad. Now you can start assigning quadrants on the platter. Once the salmon has cooled slightly, it can be easily broken up into large rustic bite-sized pieces.  Place these in one section.  Pile up the steamed beans in another quadrant of the platter.  Mound the sliced roasted potatoes nearby. Scatter the halved cherry tomatoes in a section.  Make room for the briny olives. And the pièce de résistance: slice the eggs, and give them centre stage!

Whisk up the dressing and drizzle a little over the salad.  Bring the platter along with more of the dressing to the table. Enjoy!

Final Thoughts

This Autumn Salade Niçoise is perfect for a Sunday brunch or lunch, as a light dinner, especially as an alternative to some of the heavy meals we tend to make as the temperatures cool down.  Feel free to add your own spin on it: want some crunch from red onions, go for it. Roast some delicata squash for a truly autumn addition. This salad works great warm or at room temperature.  Add some crusty bread on the side for the dressing.  Add of course a sparkling prosecco, or even hard apple cider is a fab accompaniment. And add quail eggs to the grocery list, you will have fun adding them to all sorts of recipes: see my Spaghetti Carbonara for how I showcased quail eggs!

Love Jen

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Autumn Salade Niçoise with Quail Eggs

A lovely autumn rendition of our favourite composed salad. Maple syrup, apple cider, roasted potatoes and salmon and elegant quail eggs turn this delicious salad into a wonderful brunch or a light dinner.

Course Salad

Cuisine French, North American

Keyword apple cider vinegar, fingerling potatoes, green beans, maple syrup, nicoise olive, quail eggs, salmon

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Salmon and Glaze

• 1 lb wild salmon filet(s), about 1-1.5 inch thick, 454 grams

Glaze

• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp real maple syrup
• 2 tbsp grainy or coarse mustard
• 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove minced finely
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Salad Additions

• 1/2 lb heirloom fingerling or baby potatoes, halved, 225 grams
• 2 tsp evoo
• 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp thyme leaves
• 1/2 lb haricot verts, or green beans, 225 grams
• 15 hard boiled quail eggs, can be prepared in advance, see Notes
• 4 oz 100 grams little gems lettuce, tear the leaves if large
• 1/3 cup pitted niçoise or kalamata olives
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• flakey salt and coarse pepper for finishing

Maple Cider Vinaigrette, can be made in advance

• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2/3 cup olive oil

Instructions

Vinaigrette

1. Combine the vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper in a jar with a lid. Whisk or shake the lid till everything is well combined. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking all the while. Taste and re-season as desired. Set aside till needed.  If you made this the day before, bring it to room temperature and shake before using.

Salmon Glaze

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a rack in the centre setting of the oven. Have 2 baking sheets ready, lining one baking sheet with foil.
2. Prepare the salmon glaze by placing all the glaze ingredients into a small pot. Bring it to a rolling simmer and cook till it becomes slightly thickened, about 5 minutes, and set aside.
3. Pat the salmon dry.

Potatoes

1. Place the potatoes in a medium pot, cover with water and 2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat and cover partially, cook for 8-10 minutes, or until a knife can slip in with no resistance.
2. Drain the potatoes and toss the potatoes with 2 teaspoons olive oil, the salt and pepper and thyme. Spread on the prepared baking sheet without the parchment. Roast for 10 minutes.

Salmon

1. Meanwhile prep the salmon filet(s)
2. Place the salmon skin side down onto the foil lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Brush half of the glaze all over the salmon. After the 10 minutes, push the baking sheet with the potatoes to one side and add the baking sheet with the salmon onto the rack.
3. Roast everything until salmon is cooked through, and potatoes are golden brown and crisp, around another 15-18 minutes. Brush the salmon with the remaining glaze, and turn the potatoes once. If one is ready before the other, remove and let rest. You are looking for the salmon to be warm pink in the middle, and flakey. Baste any glaze that has dripped down onto the salmon and let it reset for 5 minutes tented loosely with foil. Remove the potatoes to large bowl.

4. When the salmon and potatoes are almost finished baking, steam the beans:

5. Place 1 inch of water into a pot and add a steamer basket. Lay the beans into the basket and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil and steam for for 2 minutes or until crispy tender, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.

6. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Dry the green beans off with a paper towel. Add them to the bowl with the potatoes. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette.

Assemble

1. Add the little gems lettuce leaves to a large platter or salad bowl. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Toss to coat.

2. Use a fork to flake the rested salmon into large pieces.
3. Arrange the salmon on top of the lettuce in one section of the platter, followed by the potatoes. Nestle the green beans in as well as the tomatoes and olives. Arrange the hard-boiled quail eggs in the centre. Season everything with salt and pepper and then drizzle with more vinaigrette. Serve with more vinaigrette on the side.

Recipe Notes

To make hard-boiled quail eggs:

Place the eggs you want to boil into a small pot and cover with cold water and 1/2 tsp of baking soda (the baking soda will help the shell separate from the egg).  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  As soon as the water comes to a boil, put a lid on the pot and remove it from the heat.  Let it sit for 6 minutes.  Then drain the hot water and run the eggs under cold water for 30-40 seconds.

Place 5 or so eggs at a time in a small food storage container (not glass) with a lid. Pour about 2 tbsp of water over the eggs and put the lid on. Give the container a good few shakes.  The water acts as a buffer as the eggs bump into each other and loosen the shells.  Then one at a time, tap the wide part of the egg on the counter and start peeling.  You will find that the shell starts to peel away quite easily. Repeat till you have all your eggs done. 

To store the eggs in the fridge until use, or overnight, place them in a container with a lid and cover with cold water.  Now they are ready to go into the fridge.  The next day they will be fresh, hard boiled eggs!