Читать книгу 30-Minute Vegetarian - Rose Elliot - Страница 27

Baby Green Bean and Butter Bean Salad with Garlic Croutes

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.