Grilled Chicken Niçoise Salad

Ingredients

• For the vinaigrette:
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 small shallot, minced
• 1 medium clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste or 1 chopped anchovy filet
• 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• For the salad:
• Two bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• 1 pound small, red new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 pound haricots verts, trimmed
• 1 head Boston lettuce, cleaned, with leaves separated and torn
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3/4 cup Niçoise or other small brine-cured black olives
• 8 caper berries, stems removed and halved

Directions

1. Whisk the vinegar, shallot, mustard, garlic, anchovy, lemon juice, sugar, thyme, and tarragon together in a small bowl. Slowly pour in the olive oil while you keep whisking. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette into a resealable bag with the chicken, seal it up, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 1 day. Put the rest of the vinaigrette in a resealable container and refrigerate it for later.
2. Start 1 chimney full of charcoal. Once the coals are burning and coated in gray ash, dump them out and bank them on 1 side of the charcoal grate. Put the cooking grate on, cover the grill, and let it heat for 5 minutes. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and blot it dry with paper towels.
3. Set the chicken on the grill with the skin facing down. Cook until the skin has crisped and picked up a little char, about 4 minutes. Turn the chicken over and keep cooking, rotating it now and then, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 155 degrees F, about 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer the chicken off the grill and let it sit for 10 minutes.
4. While the chicken cooks, bring a pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. You’ll use this same pan for 3 salad components at once, very satisfying. Drop in the potatoes and cook for 12 minutes, then add the eggs and cook for 2 minutes more. Set a steamer basket over the pot, add the green beans, cover, and steam for 4 minutes. Drain the potatoes, eggs, and green beans, then rinse them with cool water. Let everything cool completely. Peel the eggs and cut them into quarters.
5. For assembly, cut the chicken off the bone and slice it. Spread the torn lettuce over the bottom of a large, flat bowl. Lay the chicken, eggs, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, and caper berries over the lettuce in tidy, slim rows. Whisk the vinaigrette again, then drizzle on enough to dress the salad without soaking it. Taste, then add salt and freshly cracked pepper if it needs it. Use tongs to gently toss the salad at the table, and serve it family-style with the extra vinaigrette.