Last of this three-part series— 
Finally to use up the leftover salmon from the cedar-planked dinner on Sunday, we made this Salmon Niçoise Salad with Kalamata Vinaigrette. This delicious riff on a Niçoise salad—minus the hard-cooked eggs and with salmon instead of tuna—comes together in about 30 minutes when you have leftover Cedar-Planked Salmon (blog posted July 27).

I ran out of red onion the night before, and being too lazy to run to the supermarket for one onion, I sautéed two large shallots instead—a serendipitous swap out. Additionally, we had one ear of corn leftover and half an orange sweet bell pepper, so they both got chopped up and thrown in.

In the end, I STILL had leftovers, resulting in a ready-made lunch to tote to work the next day…

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette

• 6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3  cup Kalamata olives, pitted and minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 3 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
• 1 medium clove garlic, finely grated
• 1/2  tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

• 3/4 lb. baby red potatoes (each about 1-1/2 inches in diameter), cut into quarters
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-1/2-inch lengths
• 1/2 lb. cherry or grape tomatoes (preferably mixed colors), halved
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2  medium fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 cups baby arugula
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 lb. Cedar-Planked Salmon (or other cooked salmon fillets), skin removed, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature

Directions

The black olive vinaigrette is prepared and ready to dress the ingredients.

Make the vinaigrette

In a small bowl, combine the oil, olives, vinegar, garlic, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes (if using). Whisk to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

These baby red potatoes were more like fingerlings, so instead of quartering them, I made 3/4″ slices.

All but the arugula, which gets tossed at the end, is mixed with the vinaigrette.

Make the salad

1. Put the potatoes in a 4-quart saucepan, cover with 2 quarts water, add 1 Tbs. salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer gently until the potatoes are just tender when poked with a skewer, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a large bowl (save the cooking liquid).
2. Whisk the vinaigrette to recombine, drizzle 2 Tbs. of it over the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
3. Bring the water in the saucepan back to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water. Drop the green beans into the boiling water and cook until bright green and no longer raw but still very crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander and plunge them into the ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and spread the beans on a clean dishtowel to dry.
4. When the potatoes have cooled, add the green beans, tomatoes, onion, fennel, and all but 3 Tbs. of the vinaigrette and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the arugula and toss gently. Transfer to a platter and top with the salmon. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette and serve.

After the salad is plated, the salmon tops the mound with a drizzle of the remaining vinaigrette.

Adapted from Dawn Yanagihara-Mitchell from Fine Cooking