Salade Nicoise is a main course salad. Mostly it is just an assembly of component parts. I used the same pot of boiling water to cook the egg, blanch the snow peas, and boil the potatoes. I have a salad dressing that I make with a Good Seasons Italian dressing packet. In order to avoid using a half cup of oil, I make the whole packet with water taking the place of the water and the oil that it calls for. Plus I use 1/4 cup of vinegar. Then I add just one teaspoon of olive oil (it really makes such a difference!) and with my immersion blender on add in 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. This last addition makes the emulsion stable and gives it the thickness of salad dressing. An overnight in the refrigerator helps as well.
There are various recipes for Salade Nicoise . It seems like after the tuna, tomatoes, and egg you can throw just about anything on the plate. As you can see along with salad greens my salad contains tomatoes, potatoes, tuna, a hard boiled egg, radishes, and snow peas. As much of a hassle as making salad is, this one is worth the effort!