Why not put together a beetroot and broad bean salad for a delicious and colourful treat! Topped with fresh mint from the garden and irresistible goats cheese, is there a better way to enjoy the broad bean bounty this season?
Broad beans are a wonderful spring treat. As Fran mentioned in her weekly veggie box update: when eating larger, mature broad beans, its generally a good idea to shell and double pod the beans otherwise the outside can be a little tough! Though, when the broad beans are smaller and younger, you can finely slice up the entire beans.
If the beans are a few centimetres long, it is probably worth double podding them. But after blanching them, try a few, and you can judge pretty quickly if the outers are too tough and need to be removed. I found that I only needed to double pod a few of mine.
If you’re new to broad beans, there is a good video on double podding that I’ve located: click here to view.
Remember, that beetroot does take a while to cook! So make sure you allocate enough time or boil them in advance.
Recipe for Beetroot and Broad Bean Salad
Prep time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Ingredients:
500g Broad Beans
Beetroot (about 3 large or 5 small)
Goats cheese, approx 80g (but whose counting, go heavy for a treat!)
Fresh mint, roughly chopped
Method:
1. De-shell your broad beans. Peel and cut your beetroot into around 3cm cubes.
2. Boil a pot of water. Blanch your beans for a 2 minutes, then place straight into a bowl of cold water. Once all of your beans are removed, add your beetroot into the boiling water and allow to cook until softened, around 1.5 hours.
3. Strain and rinse beets with some cool water. Once cooled, combine everything in a bowl
4. Serve with a drizzle of EVOO and freshly squeezed lemon.
