The fresh bean salad is a single dish with legumes and vegetables, very substantial and at the same time light. It is a vegetarian dish to be enjoyed cold, great for both lunch and dinner, during free time and also as an appetizer. It should be prepared a few hours in advance to give time for all the flavors to blend well. For those who do not want to give up the benefits of legumes in summer, the fresh bean salad with vegetables is ideal: it is rich in vegetable proteins, minerals, fibers, water, and so on.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients
- 9 oz fresh beans (weighed without pod)
- 1/2 fresh green onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 head radicchio
- 2 cucumbers
- 4 large salad tomatoes
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste fine salt
- 1 raw pepper
- to taste lemon juice or white vinegar
- to taste oregano (fresh or dried)
- 1 carrot
Steps
Peel and rinse the fresh beans under running water. Place them in a large pot filled with water, scented with celery, a carrot, and half a fresh green onion or half an onion (white, golden, Tropea, as per our taste).
Bring to a boil, then continue cooking for about 35/40 minutes or until the beans are tender but not mushy. Only at the end of cooking, we can salt the beans with a pinch of coarse salt, stir well, cover, and let cool for about an hour. Finally, drain them and let them cool in a large bowl.
In the meantime, we’ll take care of the vegetables. Wash and cut the other carrot, cucumbers, and tomatoes into small cubes.
Add the already washed and chopped radicchio leaves, a little more thinly sliced fresh green onion, and the pepper in strips, without the white filaments and seeds (if you have them in the fridge, also add a couple of raw “friggitelli” green peppers, also without stem and internal seeds).
Combine all the vegetables with the cold beans and season with oil, salt, oregano, and a splash of lemon or vinegar, depending on taste. Mix all the ingredients of our substantial salad and let it season and rest in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What does “fresh beans” mean?
Fresh beans, with white seeds (cannellini, also called “spollichini” in Neapolitan, with a skin that ranges from off-white to aqua green) or speckled white and red (borlotti with white and red skin), are found only in summer and are sold with the pod. Before cooking, they do not need to be soaked, like dried ones, and have a shorter cooking time, ranging from 25 to 40 minutes at most with traditional cooking.
