A different kind of salad.

I love some of the salads from my childhood. Mum would, of course, make the regular green leaf salad. She did, however, have a few other salads that were less common among her group friends. More often than not, it was these salads she found perfect to pull out when entertaining. This bean salad is one of them.

Made with fresh beans, it doesn’t take too long to whip up. I normally make this salad when we’re having a BBQ as one of two salads on offer. By boiling the garlic with the beans, you get the garlic flavour infused with the added benefit of it not being too pungent.

You can easily use green beans but if you can get your hands on butter beans, you’re in luck! A butter bean is, they are also known as a wax bean and is a yellow/green in colour. When ripe, butter beans have a slightly sweet and rich taste and a crunchy texture with a lot of snap. Dad used to grow butter beans in the garden and bring in buckets laden with them for mum to cook up. This is one of a few recipes mum used to make using these beans.

Bean Salad

When you think of bean salad, you don't think of beans prepared in this way. This salad is great for BBQ's or with grilled meat. The vinegar dressing is kept light so that flavours are balanced and not drowning in a heavy vinegar flavour.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

 

• 500 g butter beans or green beans
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1/8 cup white vinegar
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions

 

• Cut off the steams and ends of the beans then chop them into 3cm lengths. Put them into a pot with the crushed garlic and enough water to cover the beans. Place on a medium to high heat and cook until beans are tender but not mushy, approximately 10 minutes. Drain in a colander then put into a bowl to cool down.
• Add into the bowl with the beans the onion, vinegar, olive oil and salt & pepper to taste. Mix together and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Notes

• If you are overloaded with beans like my mum was, you can freeze them after blanching them first. It's important that you blanch them as this process halts natural enzyme processes so the frozen beans (or other vegetables) retain flavour, texture and colour during storage.
• How to blanch beans correctly:
  • Wash fresh green or yellow beans in cold water, sorting out and discarding damaged pods.
  • Remove and discard stems and ends and cut the beans into pieces.
  • Heat water to a full rolling boil in a large pot. Place the beans in the pot for 4 minutes. Begin timing when the water returns to a boil after adding the beans, about one minute. Don’t overcrowd the beans in the pot. There should be enough water so the beans float freely in the pot. Keep the heat high during the blanching process.
  • Remove and cool down before bagging up into meal portions to freeze.
  • If you want to freeze beans loosely, spread them in a single layer onto a baking tray and place in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer into freezer bags.