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.
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.