Salad of cannellini beans, zucchini and goat's cheese.Photo: William Meppem
Ingredients
100g dried cannellini beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
1 litre fresh chicken stock
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ small red onion, diced
2 small zucchini, halved, seeds removed, cut into 1cm dice
2 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful green beans, topped and tailed, cut into 6cm lengths
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of ½ lemon
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
150g drained marinated artichoke halves, each cut into 4 wedges
small handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, torn
small handful mint leaves, torn
150g marinated goat's cheese, drained
Method
Drain the soaked beans, place in a saucepan and pour over enough stock to cover.
Cover the beans with a round piece of baking paper and simmer gently for about 50 minutes or until the beans are just tender, adding more chicken stock as required to ensure beans are covered at all times while cooking.
Remove the beans from the heat and allow to cool in the stock. Once cool, drain and discard the stock.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a fry pan and sauté the onion until it starts to soften. Add the zucchini and garlic and cook until they start to colour and the garlic becomes fragrant. Season to taste. Cool.
Blanch the green beans in a medium pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and refresh in iced water.
Dress the cannellini beans with the remaining olive oil, balsamic and lemon juice and season to taste. Gently fold through the zucchini mix, gren beans, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, parsley and mint.
Divide the salad into serving bowls or plates and top with crumbled goat's cheese.
Tip: The cannellini bean salad is awesome served on slices of quality prosciutto.
