There are many opinions on what should be and should not be included in Salade Niçoise.
The most traditional and early recipes are very basic and contain only a few ingredients (tomatoes, anchovies and olive oil).
Other traditionalist views also state that it should be served in a wooden bowl rubbed with garlic, no vinegar should be in the dressing, no lettuce should be served, the tomatoes should be salted three times and it should be an arranged rather than a tossed salad!
You will encounter many "rules" and even more contradictions and differing points of view the more you read... they are French after all.
Over the years other mediterranean ingredients have been added such as black olives, cucumber, peppers, hard boiled eggs etc
For me there are just a few loose rules to follow - use anchovies or canned tuna - never both.
Don't use cooked veg such as potatoes, french beans - though one recipe I read used very young fresh uncooked green beans marinated (and thin slices of raw artichoke also marinaded) which is fine by me.
The addition of salad leaves also seems contentious to the purists, but thats their problem... So for me a few seasonal leaves mixed with herbs fines (a finely chopped mix of parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon) are an acceptable ingredient.
The above salad is tinned tuna seasoned and mixed with a little extra virgin olive oil, rocket with herbs fines, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, black olives, green pepper, spring onions, radishes and cucumber with a dressing made from dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, seasoning and extra virgin olive oil.
Some of these ingredients were used because thats what I had in my garden (rocket, cucumber, radishes and spring onions), what was seasonal in the shops or to hand - red pepper would probably be better than green and if I didnt have spring onion I would more likely use red onion.
Remember top chefs, including michelin starred ones have been heavily criticised for adding none traditional ingredients to this salad and trying to make it there own resulting critics calling it "a massacre of the recipe", a "sacrilege", and a violation of the "ancestral traditions", so just do your own version.
