Preparation time: Under 15 minutes

Cooking time: None

One of the treasures of the cuisine of Nice, salade niçoise is known worldwide - though countless crimes have been committed in its name!

It is not a tossed salad and should not contain any cooked vegetables, only raw. This is why it changes according to the season. The fresh shelled beans are included only in the spring when they're young and crisp - the same applies to the little artichokes, picked before they develop their beard.

A symbol of the south, of the Mediterranean and of Provence, the salade niçoise is a colorful still-life, like the ones that fascinated Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse who came to paint on the Côte d'Azur. It is a healthful and complete meal that needs only a crunchy baguette to round it out.

Choose your tomatoes carefully, preferably vine-ripened fruit and not the pale imitations that have been stored in supermarket refrigerators.

1. Cook the eggs in boiling water; chill in cold water and peel.
2. In a bowl, prepare the vinaigrette and add the finely chopped onion. Clean the artichokes and slice thinly.
3. Shell the beans. Quarter the tomatoes.
4. Slice the pepper into thin rings.
5. Slice the cucumber and celery heart.
6. Quickly wash the arugula or mesclun and dry it.
7. Place all the vegetables in the salad bowl and pour on the vinaigrette. The ingredients should not be tossed, but rather arranged, overlapping, on a bed of greens to create a colorful tableau.
8. Garnish with the flaked tuna, sliced or quartered hardboiled eggs, anchovy fillets and black olives.
9. Snip the basil leaves and add them at the last moment. Serve.

Serve a chilled pastis with water in a tall glass (for the fennel flavor)

or an aromatic minerally white wine from Provence