Green Bean, Hazelnut and Orange Salad

Orange and hazelnut go wonderfully well together. The pairing offers a good balance of freshness and earthiness and the flavours are subtle enough to complement green beans without overpowering them.

In this recipe we use the orange slices that we dehydrated some time ago. Several slices are whizzed in a spice grinder until almost powdered. If you don’t have dried orange slices, use pieces of orange zest that have been sliced thinly.

This is based on a recipe from Ottolenghi’s first book, Ottolenghi. We like to play wild and free with his recipes, so you can check the original one here.

Similar recipes include Black Pepper Garlic Broccoli, Steamed Broccoli with Pinenuts, Green Bean Salad, Fava Bean Salad with Garlic and Dill, and Glorious Five Bean Salad.

Or browse all of our Bean Salads and all Bean dishes.

Charred Broccoli and Bean Salad with Chilli and Garlic

This recipe is a riff on one by Ottolenghi in his book Ottolenghi. He also riffs it, with numerous variations on the Guardian website and elsewhere. It just proves how addictive broccoli is when it is char-grilled and tossed with garlic and chilli. We have been making this salad periodically for years – my daughter was the first to put me on to how good it is.

This time, I add beans to the mix, as (ssshhh, this is a little known secret) are also addictive when char-grilled. I’ve used a delicious sweet-hot chilli paste, and the garlic is sliced and crisped. An optional extra is to add flaked almonds to the salad.

Sadly, there are no pics tonight, an increasing trend on this blog when we cook at night. You will have to trust sight-unseen on how good this dish is. Photo is from Unsplash.

Similar dishes include Black Pepper Garlic Broccoli, Steamed Broccoli with Pinenuts, Pan Roasted Broccoli, Smashed Chickpeas with Broccoli, and Broccoli with Orange Butter Sauce.

Or browse all of our Broccoli and Bean dishes.

Two Bean and Two Lime Salad

We have a strange green bean growing – its pod is green with flecks of red. It is delicious, as all green beans are, and perfect for this salad from Ottolenghi. You can of course use any green bean – the beans are paired with either edamame, younger broad beans or even peas. The key to the salad is a beautiful dressing made with lime zest, lime juice, coriander, mint, garlic and chillies! Oh, yes, you just might get excited.

Once the beans are trimmed, it is quite simple to make. Of course it is, it is from Ottolenghi’s book Simple. 10 ingredients, quick and it can be made ahead (see the notes below the salad). Note that I often massage Ottolenghi’s recipes to suit what is available from our garden and pantry. For the original recipes, check his books and his Guardian column.

Similar dishes include Summery Grain or Lentil Salad, Sea Spaghetti, Cucumber and Edamame Salad, Italian Green Bean Salad, Green Bean Salad with Asparagus, Spring Salad, and Glorious Green Bean Salad.

100 Vegetables: #21. Cluster Beans | Kothavarangai | Guar

Cluster Beans are slightly bitter beans from India. They are quite elegant looking with a long and tapered shape. We don’t find them fresh here but they are available frozen at the Indian grocery. They can be an acquired taste outside of India, but we love them.

It is also known as the Lond Bean, or gavar, gawar, gavarfali, and guvar. They are a very popular vegetable in India and indeed are native to India. They are low in calories and they say that they are also effective in lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels. It is a rich source of protein.

Young beans are harvested for vegetable use and mature pods are harvested so that the seeds can be dried and powdered into a flour known as guar gum. Guar gum is used as thickening agent in commercial food preparations like ice creams.

Cluster beans are quite stringy so it is necessary to top and tail them and string each side before using.

You can also browse these (and any new recipes) here. And check out our 100 Vegetable Series.

100 Vegetables: #20. Green Beans

Green Beans, fresh or frozen, are such an important ingredient at the kitchen table. Whether in salads or cooked Greek, Italian, Asian or Indian style, they are tasty, and easy to work with in the kitchen.

“Green” beans actually come in several colours – yellow, all shades of green, cream, russet and purple. The green means immature – if they are left to ripen the beans and pods become so hard they are inedible. They also vary in shape and length, from the Italian Flat Bean to the Asia very long Snake Bean and the Indian curly Cluster Bean.

In our collection today, we have included green beans and a recipe for Italian Flat Beans. Fresh Butter Beans, fresh Borlotti Beans, Cluster Beans, Broad Beans and Snake Beans are subjects for another day.

You can also browse these (and any new recipes) here. And check out our 100 Vegetable Series.

100 Vegetables: #8. Avarakkai Beans | Indian Flat Beans

Avarakkai Beans are peculiar to India and I have only ever seen them fresh in Adelaide on one occasion. So for this 8th vegetable in our series, there is only one recipe. They might be available frozen in Indian groceries but I haven’t checked.

Avarakkai Beans are also called Indian Broad Beans, and interestingly, if you google them, google returns only recipes for the Western broad bean. Other names for the beans include Hyacinth Beans and Lablab Beans.

You can browse all of our Avarakkai Beans recipes here. And check out our 100 Vegetable Series.

Green Bean Salad | Insalata di Fagiolini

Equally good hot or cold, this Green Bean Salad is sure to become a favourite. Simple and easy (very much my kind of food), the beans are steamed and then mixed with mint, garlic and lemon. Take it straight to the table for an instant salad, entree/starter or snack. With some crusty bread, it can even become a light lunch.

Similar dishes include Green Beans with Tomatoes, Green Beans with Freekeh, Walnuts and Tahini, Glorious Five Bean Salad, and Green Bean and Carrot Poriyal.

Browse all of our Green Bean dishes and all of our Italian recipes. Our Salads are here. Or explore our Early Summer dishes.

Seasonal Cooking | Simple Beautiful Summer Salads

Elizabeth David is the best source of simple but utterly delicious salads. I love to read her books, and today I have taken the liberty of reproducing some of her beautiful salads.

Similar posts include 30 Great Salads for Early Summer.

Browse all of our Salad recipes and all of our Early Summer dishes.

Cluster Beans Jaggery Kootu

Another in our Kootu series is made with cluster beans, and jaggery is added which counterbalances the slight bitterness of the beans and compliments the tamarind very well. It is slightly sweet-sour.

Most Kootus are made from vegetables, coconut and a mix of spices. Sometimes lentils or a dal is added to thicken the kootu. Generally kootus are made with vegetables that are locally available.

The recipe is another of Meenakshi Ammal‘s from her cook books Cook and See. She says that this same Kootu can be made with green beans, sabre beans, eggplant, plantain, plantain flower and chow chow.

Similar dishes include Plantain Mash, Chow Chow Kari, Pumpkin Milk Kootu, Cluster Bean Kootu, Brinjal Kootu and Mango Kootu.

Browse all of our Kootu recipes and all of our Cluster Bean dishes. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Late Summer recipes.

Eat Your Greens! An easy way to include greens each day.

It is fascinating how traditional ways of composing meals have included what we now recognise as health-promoting elements. For example, the salad courses of France and the USA. And yoghurt included in every meal in parts of India. And in parts of Italy it is common to serve a green vegetable on its own as a pre-dinner course or snack.

The Italian greens course is so easy to bring together – simmer or toss some greens, dress, season, serve. It is a great practice – why not try it this month, for the whole month?

Similar recipes include Every Meal some Simple Greens, Steamed Mustard Greens with Mushrooms, and Puree of Greens.

Browse all of our Salad recipes and all of our Spinach dishes. Or simply explore our Early Autumn recipes.