Tuesday 23 January 2018

Summery Bean Salad

We are currently harvesting crispy young beans by the handful from our garden. They are so fresh and crunchy! I always aim to use something from our garden in the meals I make so I thought a light and Summery bean salad would be a beautiful way to eat our homegrown beans.


Beautiful fresh beans from our garden.


The recipe I was inspired by, for Green Bean & Almond Salad, comes from Georgia Harding who develops nutritious and delicious recipes over on her blog, Well Nourished.  I decided my buttery yellow beans would be just as lovely as green beans and that the haloumi cheese I did have would be just a nice as the feta I didn't have.  This salad was so good! Just the thing for homegrown beans picked on a Summer morning.

For exact quantities of ingredients, you can click on the link above to Georgia's recipe. I just added amounts I felt worked with the handfuls of beans I had.  After all, I don't think there's such a thing as too much haloumi (not if you love cheese like I do!) 😉

Summery Bean Salad


Top & tail your fresh beans. Steam them lightly so they remain crisp.
(Plunge into icy water to stop them cooking!)

Toast slivered almonds in a dry fry pan.


Fry some little cubes of haloumi cheese until golden.

Mix ingredients together in a bowl with handfuls of dark green baby spinach.
Pour over dressing before serving & toss until evenly coated.

For the dressing Whisk together 2Tablespoons olive oil, 1Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, sea salt and pepper. 

Beans are one of my favourites in the veggie patch. I love snacking on them just as they are (many don't make it upstairs to the kitchen) but this salad is so delicious that I'll need to make sure I leave enough beans to make it at least once more before our Summer ends.

Meg











11 comments:

  1. Oh yum! That's my kind of salad. I love haloumi. Do your yellow butter beans feel rough on the outside? I grew them once, and they weren't smooth like green beans, I wasn't fond of the outside texture, I've never grown them since, so I don't know if that was an anomaly, or just how they are?

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    1. Hi, Cheryl. These beans aren't rough on the outside. Very similar to a green bean. Meg:)

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  2. Mmm, thIs salad sounds so delicious, thanks for the inspiration, oh and I also don’t think you can have too much cheese especially Halloumi😁have a lovely day.
    Fi

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    1. There's a lot to love about this salad, Fi. There's the crispness of the fresh beans, the crunch of almonds, the deep green nutrition of spinach and then the saltiness of the haloumi. Mmm...
      Meg:)

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    1. ...and so quick and easy to make too! Perfect for warm Summer evenings! Meg:)

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  4. That looks delicious Meg, Simple tasty food is just what I love, in the warmer months we eat so many salads.x

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    1. Salads are just perfect for warm nights, Marlene. Days are hot here and nights warm at the moment so this is something easy and nutritious and quick so I don't need to be cooking on hot stove for very long. Meg:)

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  5. Sounds delicious, Meg. I have been making bean salad lately but don't have them growing. Salads are the way to go in the recent heat.

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    1. One hot day after the other at the moment, Chel. Salads of all kinds on the menu at our place right now. Stay cool! Meg:)

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  6. I started weeding my veggie patches this week so want to get back into home grown veggies...I have missed them.

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