Broad (and Soy) Bean Salad with Pancetta
I was very excited to find some young broad beans in the veg box this week! Year after year, there is only one recipe that I absolutely have to make straight away. It’s not my recipe though, it’s actually Delia’s. This pains me as she has just released a book which I find really horrible. Apparently (I haven’t actually seen it), she recommends frozen mashed potato as one of many ways to ‘cheat at cooking’. Frozen mashed potato?! That is such a shame. Sometimes I can’t be bothered to boil some potatoes and mash them up too but I wouldn’t use frozen mashed potato, I’d just have something else. Although I can’t imagine that making mashed potato takes much longer than making a sandwich or any other fast food. Perhaps I’m being snobbish and grumpy! It just makes me think of Smash……
Anyway, the salad is a fantastic recipe. I found when I opened the broad bean pods that I had a variety of sizes so I added the large ones first before adding the medium and then small to ensure even cooking. I threw in some bright green soy beans, some extra herbs and substituted sherry vinegar for cider vinegar as I had it to hand. There is actually an earlier version of this recipe in one of her books which is less glamorous with bacon and white wine or some lesser vinegar. No matter what minor tweaks I make, this always screams spring to me as it is so fresh and the flavours are really punchy. Something to mark a change of direction away from constant eating of root vegetables throughout winter.
We ate the salad with some of the bits we picked up from Whole Foods Market last weekend. The brie with truffles wasn’t quite as brilliant as I’d hoped. The truffle flavour wasn’t pronounced enough but it was a completely delicious brie, nice and ripe and oozing. The Stilchelton was excellent, really creamy with the perfect level of tang and the venison salami was strong – strong but good. Chris made scrambled eggs with it and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, I could only eat a mouthful of eggs as I’m sorry to report I have had to embark on a mini-diet. Lots of water, exercise (skipping) and low fat foods for me. Only for a week or two you understand, I’m not crazy. I’m just eating more of foods that are naturally low in fat. I won’t be re-hashing low fat versions of my favourites or anything, just eating less of them. So that’s what you’ll be seeing here for the next couple of weeks too. This salad isn’t low in fat at all, but it is mostly good olive oil so we’ll overlook it….
Broad (and soy) Bean Salad
Adapted from Delia Smith’s ‘How to Cook Book 2′
250g broad beans (shelled weight)
250g soy beans (I used frozen….)
A very large handful of mixed herbs, finely chopped. I used basil, flat leaf parsley, mint and chives.
3 fat slices of pancetta
2 shallots, finely chopped
salt and pepper
For the dressing
1 large clove of garlic
A generous pinch of sea salt
2 level teaspoons mustard powder
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper
- Grill the pancetta until really crisp and then cut into bite size pieces.
- Plunge the broad beans into boiling, salted water and, when it comes back to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 2 minutes or so before adding the soy beans to the same pan for around 3 minutes more (I used soy beans that cook straight from the freezer, which is not the same thing as using frozen mashed potato Delia!). When they are just tender drain and set aside in a serving bowl.
- For the dressing, Crush the garlic with the salt in a pestle and mortar, then add the mustard powder and mix. Add the cider vinegar and a good grind of black pepper (around 1/2 teaspoon) and mix in again (I like to switch to a mini whisk at this point). Finally, add the olive oil and whisk again to emulsify.
- Add the chopped shallots and crispy pancetta bits to the beans and then pour the dressing over while they are still warm. Finally add the herbs and mix again. Delicious hot and cold.
Category: Gluten-free, Lunchbox, Meat, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetables 9 comments »
March 8th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
What a happy looking dish.
It sounds absolutely delightful.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
I’m surprised to see such a difference in the size of the beans. I’ve never cooked fresh fava beans, but they’re something I’ve been wanting to try for ages. This sounds just wonderfully delicious.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Wow that looks great! So colorful!
March 9th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Wendy – It does look happy doesn’t it? I needed something to cheer me up after the long winter months of darkness!
Kalyn – I was too. This has never happened to me before and I think it it because they are young beans. Later in the season, they tend to be bigger and the tough outer skins need removing.
March 10th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
What an appetizing spring dish. Makes me crave for greens even more.
March 15th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
[...] rather good. The idea comes from Helen at Food Stories. A few weeks ago she blogged about an Edamame and Broadbean Salad with Panchetta. It looked so very pretty and sounded so very delicious I knew I’d be making it soon. And [...]
March 18th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
That dish looks gorgeous, must go to the Farmers Market this weekend and hunt me some broad beans.
As for Delia though I agree she seems to have lost her way. The frozen mashed potato is used in a bizarre take on chocolate cupcakes which is just very odd, very carb-overloaded and very wrong… http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/03/g2_does_a_delia.html for a discussion of what it tastes like.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Eep, correct address is http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2265292,00.html
May 31st, 2008 at 1:04 am
We’ll definitely consider making this dish for our upcoming party! Although we’ll be having vegetarians and will have to omit the pancetta, the beans alone will be marvelous!