A bright and light citrus niçoise is the perfect dish for these in-between days

Warm vegetables kissed with a citrus-spiked vinaigrette, and topped with sweet and spicy blackened salmon, this citrusy niçoise is a main course hero dish. Make it all year, but it’s an especially nice way to feature winter’s finest citrus while we wait for spring.

Winter Citrus Niçoise Salad

By Dennis The Prescott

This recipe makes extra vinaigrette. Store in a jam jar, or airtight container, in the fridge for future salad cravings.

Ingredients

• 1 pound baby potatoes, rinsed & scrubbed, but not peeled
• 1 large grapefruit, peeled and separated into segments
• ½ pound green beans, ends trimmed
• ⅓ pound fresh peas
• ½ cup Kalamata olives
• ¾ pound cherry tomatoes, sliced
• ½ English cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 cup sliced radishes
• 6 large eggs

Citrus-Spiked Vinaigrette:

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• Sea salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste

Sweet & Spicy Blackened Salmon:

• 1 pound salmon fillet, skin on
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ½ tsp ground cayenne
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Preparation

First, prep the vegetables. Boil the potatoes until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes, then drain and set aside. Blanche the green beans in simmering water, cooking until just softened but still firm, then set aside.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Add the eggs to the boiling water, set a timer, and cook for 6 ½ minutes. Remove the cooked eggs and transfer them directly to the ice bath to cool, to stop the cooking process. After a few minutes, remove the shells and set the eggs aside.

Next, prepare the vinaigrette. Combine all of the ingredients in a jam jar, and shake vigorously until thick & creamy.

Next prepare the salmon. Combine lemon zest, spices, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small dish and mix well. Rub the spice rub all over the flesh side of the fish. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. When hot, add the salmon, flesh side down, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until crispy and beautifully blackened. Flip and continue cooking skin side down for 4 to 5 minutes, until the flesh easily flakes with a fork and the fish is cooked through to your desired doneness. Transfer the fish to a board, remove the skin, and flake into large chunks.

Combine potatoes, grapefruit, beans, peas, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, and radishes in a large bowl, and toss with ¼ cup of vinaigrette. Divide the salad between 6 bowls. Halve the eggs, then divide among the plates along with a hearty portion of salmon. Serve warm with the remaining vinaigrette.

Dennis The Prescott is a chef, cookbook author, and food photographer based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Prescott has amassed a devoted following of almost 500K social media followers, cooks regularly on National television in the US and Canada, and has traveled the globe with World Vision Canada and WFP, cooking from New York to Nairobi. His National bestselling cookbook, Eat Delicious (William Morrow/HarperCollins) was named one of The Globe & Mail’s best cookbooks of 2017. Find more of Dennis’ recipes at dennistheprescott.com, or on social media at @dennistheprescott.