Vegetarian Salade Nicoise

Rinse the grape tomatoes, English cucumber, green beans, and mixed greens under cool running water before cutting or trimming; drain and dry well. Halve the grape tomatoes, slice the cucumber, trim the green beans if needed, and keep each salad component separate for a composed presentation.

Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water by 1 inch, and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let stand 10 minutes for hard-cooked eggs.

Transfer the eggs to cold water until cool enough to handle, then peel and quarter them.

Add the baby potatoes to the saucepan, cover with fresh water, and simmer until fork-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly, then halve.

In the same saucepan, bring lightly salted water to a boil and cook the green beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, the 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper until the vinaigrette is smooth and lightly thickened.

Arrange the mixed greens on a serving platter, then compose the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, cucumber, hard-cooked eggs, and one 6-ounce can pitted black olives, drained, in neat sections over the top.