Nosher recipe for Harissa Salmon Nicoise salad

Harissa is a spicy, rich-flavored North African chili paste and it is one of my favorite condiments to use in the kitchen. It is traditionally made with roasted red pepper, chilies, garlic, and a mixture of spices, depending on the family and exact origin. You can easily find several varieties in the supermarket, usually in the ethnic foods aisle, but I prefer making my own, in part so I can control the level of spice.

A traditional nicoise salad features baby potatoes, haricot verts, European-style tuna, olives and hardboiled egg. In this amped-up version, many of the traditional elements remain, but the tuna is swapped for a harissa-smothered salmon and preserved lemon is added for some North African authenticity, which makes it brighter and punchier.

Nicoise purists might balk at this recipe, but I promise: This spiced salmon salad is delicious, filling and perfect to enjoy all summer.

• You can simplify this recipe by buying harissa already made.

•Don’t stress about making your own dressing — you can also dress it simply with olive oil and lemon juice or white wine vinegar.

•You can prepare the salmon, potatoes, haricot verts and hard boiled eggs ahead of time, and when ready to serve, simply assemble. It makes it a great dish for entertaining or Shabbat lunch.

Ingredients:

For the salad:

4 ounces small red and purple potatoes

Kosher salt

4 ounces haricots verts (string beans), trimmed

4 ounces heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved crosswise

1 or 2 hardboiled eggs, halved crosswise

4 cups lettuce and/or mixed greens, washed, dried and chopped

1/4 cup black or Nicoise olives, pitted

Flaky salt and fresh black pepper, for serving

For the salmon:

6 ounces fresh salmon, skin removed

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Prepared harissa (around 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on size of salmon and your preference)

For the harissa:

1 large red pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 dried red chilies

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. ras el hanout

1-1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

For the dressing:

4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, finely minced

1 Tbsp. whole grain Dijon mustard

1 small shallot, finely minced

1 small clove garlic, finely minced

1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 tsp. finely chopped preserved lemon peel

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. To make the harissa: Broil the red pepper on high for about 25 minutes, turning occasionally, until blackened on the outside. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. This is called sweating, and it allows you to easily peel the skin off the pepper. Peel the pepper and discard its skin and seeds.

2. Rehydrate the chilies by placing them in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes.

3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, and fry the onion, garlic and rehydrated chilies for 10 to 12 minutes, until dark and smoky. Use a blender or a food processor to combine all the harissa ingredients until smooth, adding a little more oil if needed.

4. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place salmon on a baking paper lined baking dish and rub with olive oil. Spread harissa thickly on top, reserving the rest for something else. Bake for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and add cold water to cover by 1 inch.

6. Bring to boil, season with kosher salt, cook until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Use slotted spoon to transfer potatoes to a plate.

7. Return water to a boil and cook haricots verts in same saucepan until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

8. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl of ice water. Chill until cold, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and pat dry.

9. To make the dressing: Mash the anchovies and mustard in a small bowl to form a coarse paste. Add the minced shallot, garlic and preserved lemon to the bowl; whisk in the white wine vinegar. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper as needed.

10. Using a fork, flake the harissa salmon into large pieces; halve reserved potatoes crosswise.

11. Arrange lettuce on a platter; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with half of dressing. Top with separate piles of potatoes, haricots verts, tomatoes, the hardboiled eggs, olives and salmon.

12. Drizzle salad with remaining dressing. Sprinkle with flaky salt and pepper.

Chaya Rappoport is a blogger, baker and photographer at retrolillies.wordpress.com.