Grilled New England Tuna Niçoise with Eight-Anchovy Dressing

Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

Just in time for the local Bluefin tuna season, you’ll want to make this easy-to-assemble composed salad at least once a week through the fall. If fresh local tuna is hard to find, swordfish or striped bass will stand in nicely here, and you can use any kind of farmers market vegetables you like to go alongside the fish—even replacing fish with eggplant or zucchini for the vegetarians. Just be sure to use as many colors as possible; I like this to feel like a rainbow on a plate.

Serves 4–6

1½–2 pounds local Bluefin tuna steak, 1½ inches thick
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Eight-Anchovy Dressing, divided
1 pound small purple potatoes
½ pound mixed green and wax beans, trimmed
6 eggs, boiled and peeled (see our recipe online for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs)
1 pint Sungold cherry tomatoes
1 cup freshly cooked white beans (from Baer’s Beans) or a can of white beans, drained and rinsed
2 lemons, quartered
extra virgin olive oil
4 cups mixed salad greens, washed and spun dry
Optional: olives and fresh basil leaves

Season the fish with salt and pepper and spread evenly with about 2 tablespoons of the Eight-Anchovy Dressing. Set aside at room temperature for about 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the salad’s components. Whisk 1–2 teaspoons of water into the remaining dressing so it pours easily.

Fill a small saucepan with salted water and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, then remove with a slotted spoon to a colander to drain, leaving the water behind. Bring back to the boil and add the green/wax beans to the pot; cook until just tender, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and dry in a tea towel. Slice the eggs in half and season with salt and drizzle with olive oil; cut the potatoes into halves or quarters and toss with salt, pepper, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, then do the same with the cherry tomatoes, green beans and white beans. You want to season each individual component on its own before composing the salad.

Light a charcoal or gas grill or preheat a stovetop grill pan to smoking. Grill the fish until done to your liking; if using fresh local tuna, make it very rare. If using swordfish or striped bass, cook it through.

To serve, arrange the mixed salad greens on a large platter and make piles of each of the components, leaving room for the fish. Slice the fish into ½-inch pieces and add to the platter, then drizzle the whole salad with dressing. Scatter olives and basil over the top, if desired. Serve at room temperature with remaining lemon wedges on the side.

This recipe appeared in the Summer 2026 issue as part of a larger story: One Ingredient, Eight-Anchovy Dressing.