As much as Murcia turns into a scorching hell in summer, in my house they have never stopped eating vegetables every week, with my mother’s stewed lentils as my favorite dish. Of course she is faithful to spooning, that you just have to cook lighter and serve warmer so as not to die of heat, but every time I am more fond of salads.
For a vegetable salad to be a success, I consider it essential that this keep good texture, be biteable and not a doughy dough. That is why I recommend leaving the most delicate and buttery ones for stews and stews, and cooking them, whenever possible, from scratch, because that way we can leave them al dente, to taste. Canned vegetables are often overcooked and are almost always crushed when removed.
The recipe for newsletter by Emily Runn sounded very appetizing for warm days and it has been a complete success, we even skipped the vinaigrette to add the anchovies directly to it. I have chosen to use verdinas, which I still had dry in the pantry, cooking them just enough to make them tender but with that slightly firmer bite that allows all the ingredients to be stirred without undoing them.
You can use another legume or also use some from a jar if we want to save time, personally recommending quality chickpeas in this case. The artichokes They can also be cooked at home, natural or frozen, or we can throw them quickly with a good preserve, well rinsed from the liquid of government. Our commitment to black olives will always be type of cuquillo, Aragon or kalamataa thousand times tastier than the cheap shiny corkscrews that abound too much in mediocre menus.
If the verdinas are cooked at home, leave them to soak in cold salted water for at least 8-10 hours, drain well and cook in clean cold water with bicarbonate of soda and a little salt, at low power once the water boils, covered, until they are tender but still firm. It depends on the type of bean, the soaking and the hardness of the water. Drain and cool.
Drain the cooked artichokes (rinsing them gently if they are from a jar) and cut them in half or quarters. chop the olives, drain lightly the oil from the two canned fish and crumble the tuna and chop the anchovies. Wash, dry and chop the parsley and/or chives.
Mix the beans with all these ingredients, adding drained capers to taste, and season gently, because preserves already add a lot of salinity. Season with fresh lemon juice and olive oil to taste, and garnish, if desired, with granulated garlic and lemon zest.
With what to accompany the green bean salad
A good generous portion of this bean salad will leave us more than satisfied, satiated and happy, with a good amount of essential nutrients without heaviness in the digestion. We could make it more energetic and abundant with some integral hydrate such as rice or quinoa, and it is not a bad idea to serve a reduced portion as a more nutritious garnish for a vegetarian dish such as quiche or a vegetable flatbread.
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