I found myself in a bit of a quandary when I was making this salad and writing out the recipe. Much as I love playing around with food and trying to create fresh flavours, it is often the case that when I actually come to cooking my supper, all I want to eat is a simple classic, one that I have enjoyed on and off for years. I think this is why it can be irritating to see people fiddling about with well-known dishes. I adore a Caesar salad, for instance, but I can’t bear one that doesn’t have the requisite rich, punchy dressing seasoned with mashed anchovies and finely grated Parmesan. It is like being promised an old teddy bear to take to bed and getting a brand new fire engine.

However, I can’t approach salade niçoise, one of my favourite classics, a deeply satisfying, nutritious salad, with this attitude. In my book Cook (HarperCollins) this salad should be made with chunks of tuna, which have preferably been stored in extra virgin olive oil. With tuna, however, comes the problem of sustainability. It has been over-fished and, thanks to the nets that some modern trawlers use, dolphins have also suffered.

Not all species of tuna are in mortal danger, according to www.fishonline.org, a website that has clear and easy-to-follow advice on the sustainability of fish. It lists all the commercially fished species that are under pressure and to be avoided, and the species to eat.

Some people love tuna so much that they are prepared to eat the species that are least under threat. Indeed, they can help tuna stocks even more by always ensuring that they eat tuna that has been line-caught or troll-caught (a term for dolphin-friendliness).

If you decide that you want to eat tuna, check with www.fishonline.org for the species that are the most abundant and on no account go for bigeye or bluefin.

Alternatively, rather than depriving yourself of something delicious, why not opt for a different fish. Mackerel are bang on season right now. Their oily flesh is full of healthy omega oils. They are delicious when bought extremely fresh, and they go beautifully in a salade niçoise. Pop them in the oven (see recipe below), retrieve them ten minutes later and flake their flesh through the juicy tomatoes, salty olives and chunks of egg.

Feast on a guilt-free classic that will replenish your mind and body.

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• How to season a wok
• Chicago Rib Shack hits back at its critics
• Gordon Ramsay: Indian barbecue