Summer Bean Salad

Summer Bean Salad

This recipe makes for a delicious lunch or a light dinner that is perfect for a warm, summery evening (not that we’ve had many of those yet in England). What’s more, it keeps for a few days in the fridge, so you can make lots of it and keep going back for more! It’s also a great one for using up ingredients that you’ve got left in the cupboard and the vegetable draw in your fridge, and can be adapted to suit the flavours and foods you like the most. I prefer to make this salad with a tahini dressing, rather than the usual French dressing, as I think this makes it much more interesting and adds great depth to the overall flavour of the dish. You should be able to buy tahini in your local supermarket, or if you happen to live near the Curry Mile like me, then you will be able to get hold of it very easily indeed!

Salad Ingredients (serves 4)

1 red pepper

1 aubergine

4 cloves garlic

1tsp paprika

1tsp ground cumin

Vegetable/sunflower oil

1 tin flageolet beans

1 tin cannellini beans

1/2 tin artichoke hearts

Handful of cherry tomatoes

4 spring onions

1/4 cucumber

100g feta

Handful of coriander

Handful of mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin etc.)

Dressing Ingredients 

2tbsp tahini

3 tbsp virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 garlic cloves

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 190c. Dice the aubergine and pepper, and place in a large roasting tray. Squash the cloves of garlic with the flat side of a large knife, then add to the tray. Toss everything in vegetable or sunflower oil, and sprinkle with paprika, ground cumin, salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes.

Whilst the veggies cook, rinse and drain the flageolet and cannellini beans, and then add them both to a large bowl. Quarter the artichoke hearts, and halve the cherry tomatoes and then add these to the bowl too. Finely slice the spring onions, cucumber and coriander and chuck these into the same bowl. Finally, place the mixed seeds in a frying pan and dry fry for around 3 minutes, so they are warmed through and lightly toasted. Following this, sprinkle the seeds over the rest of the salad ingredients. Lastly, take the feta and crumble it finely over the ingredients in the bowl.

Next up is the dressing. Before measuring out the tahini, be sure to mix it thoroughly whilst it is still in the jar, as it often separates out. Once you’ve done this, take a jam jar or measuring jug and pour in the tahini and olive oil. Stir these together until combined, then add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Finally, peel and crush the garlic cloves and stir these through the dressing until all the ingredients are combined. Taste to make sure it is as lemon-y and salty as you want it to be – everyone seems to have a different preference!

By now your veggies should be roasted to perfection, so take them out of the oven and tip them into the bowl with all the other ingredients. Pour over the dressing, and mix everything together. Season with some salt and pepper and then tuck in!