I love the combination of fresh green beans in the pod and cooked dried beans; they are at the same time refreshing and sustaining. This salad is lovely made in the summer with flavourful tomatoes, olives and fresh herbs.
Serves 2–4
Vegan
250g (9oz) thin French beans, trimmed as much as you wish (see tip)
400g tin butter beans, drained
250g (9oz) tomatoes, plum if available, sliced
Few sprigs of basil, torn
Handful of black olives
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
For the garlic croutes
1 garlic clove
2–4 slices of baguette or wholemeal bread
Olive oil
For the mustard dressing
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp red wine or cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1. Cook the beans in boiling water to cover for 4–6 minutes, or until tender but still crunchy. Drain in a colander and cool under the cold tap. Drain again.
2. Put the cooked beans into a bowl and add the butter beans, tomatoes, basil, and olives. Season with salt and a little pepper.
3. Make the garlic croutes: cut the garlic in half and rub the cut surfaces over one side of the slices of bread, then brush the bread lightly on both sides with olive oil. Grill the bread on both sides until lightly browned and crisp.
4. While the bread is grilling, make the dressing: put the mustard, vinegar and a little salt into a bowl and mix with a fork or small whisk, then gradually whisk in the oil. Season.
5. Add half the dressing to the salad and toss so that it’s all glossy, then heap it on to plates or a serving dish and drizzle the rest of the dressing over and around, and grind some more pepper coarsely over. Serve with the garlic croutes.
Tip: I’ve got more and more relaxed about how much I trim beans. I used to cut off both the top and the curly ‘tail’; then I just trimmed the top, now I prefer not to trim them at all: I think they look much prettier in their natural state, and of course it’s less work for the cook! But others disagree … so the choice is yours.
This is half salad, half hot dish, a variation of Mexican refried beans, with a hot, chilli-bean mixture served on a base of salad, garnished with slices of avocado, soured cream, chives and coriander. You could also add a handful of olives, and some tortilla chips for an extra crunch. It’s a great one-dish meal to make when you want something quick, hot and tasty, and it’s very colourful.
Serves 2
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400g tin red kidney beans, drained
1 small lettuce
1 small red pepper, deseeded and sliced
4 tomatoes, sliced
1 avocado
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
150ml (5fl oz) plain yoghurt or soured cream
Salt and black pepper
A few fresh coriander leaves, to serve (optional)
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, then add the onion, cover and cook over a moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the chilli, garlic and chopped tomatoes to the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the beans to the onion mixture, mashing them roughly with a wooden spoon or a potato masher to give a chunky texture. Heat through, then season with salt and pepper and keep warm over a low heat.
4. Cover a large platter with the lettuce leaves and arrange the red pepper and tomatoes randomly on top.
5. Peel, stone and roughly chop the avocado. Stir the chives into the yoghurt or soured cream.
6. Spoon the red bean mixture on to the centre of the salad. Sprinkle the chopped avocado over it, then drizzle some of the yoghurt or soured cream mixture over everything – put the rest into a small bowl to serve with the salad. Serve the salad at once, garnished with fresh coriander leaves, if you wish.
Make it vegan: Replace dairy soured cream or yoghurt with vegan ones: you can get vegan soured cream at health shops and plain, unsweetened soya yoghurt at large wholefood stores.
Warm Quinoa Salad with Broad Beans and Pomegranate
A pretty, refreshing salad that’s light but nourishing and can be served warm or cold. I love it just as it is, but you can jazz it up: serve it with crisp little gem lettuce leaves to use as scoops; have it with some salty crumbled feta, some hummus or another of the creamy dips in this book, such as the Tofu Mayonnaise, and some slices of ripe avocado, or a swirl of Sunflower Cream.
Serves 2–4
Vegan
125g (4½oz) quinoa
250ml (9fl oz) water
200g (7oz) frozen broad beans
1 pomegranate
4 slim spring onions, chopped
Salt
For the dressing (optional)
1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
2 tsp chopped fresh mint
1. Rinse the quinoa in a sieve under the cold tap, then put it into a saucepan with the water, bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer over a gentle heat for about 15 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy.
2. Meanwhile, cook the broad beans in boiling water to cover for 2–3 minutes, until tender. Drain the beans and cover them with cold water to cool them quickly, then with your fingers pop them out of their grey skins, revealing the brilliant green beans inside.
3. Mix together the dressing ingredients, if using, dress the beans and set aside.
4. Cut the pomegranate in half around its equator. Holding one half over a bowl, cut-side down, bang the surface of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon to release the shiny red seeds; repeat with the other side.
5. Add the broad beans and pomegranate seeds to the cooked quinoa, along with the chopped spring onions and salt to taste.