Mustardy beans and hazelnuts
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- less than 10 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
Ben’s simple method for cooking long beans will result in one of the tastiest salads you’ve ever tried!
Ingredients
For the mustard vinaigrette
- 25g/1oz Dijon mustard
- 20g/¾oz wholegrain mustard
- 35ml/1fl½ oz white wine vinegar
- 25ml/1fl oz olive oil
- 25ml/1fl oz neutral oil (such as vegetable oil)
- 50–80g/1¾–3oz full-fat crème fraîche
- 5–10g/¼–1/3oz fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the bean and hazelnut salad
- 400g/14oz mixed long beans, such as green, yellow, runner or pietonne, topped and tailed
- 50g/1¾oz toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- 20g/¾oz dill, roughly chopped
- 250g/9oz cooked beluga or puy lentils
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 60g/2¼oz Manchego cheese, or vegetarian alternative, shaved
Method
To make the dressing, put the mustards and vinegar in a bowl along with salt and 6–8 twists of black pepper, then whisk to combine.
Working gradually, whisk in the oils one by one to create a thick, emulsified dressing. If it's a little too thick, add a splash more vinegar or a drop of water.
Mix through the crème fraîche and tarragon and set aside.
To make the bean and hazelnut salad, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Heavily season it with salt (roughly 120g/4½oz per litre/1¾ pints of water) – you want it to be much saltier than you think and far saltier than pasta water.
Set up a bowl of iced water and season that generously, too. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until tender.
Remove from the boiling water and plunge into the salty iced water. Jostle the beans around to ensure even cooling then remove. Dry the beans as best you can, using either a tea towel or a salad spinner.
Toss the cooked beans into a bowl with the hazelnuts, spring onions, dill, lentils, lemon zest and half of the Manchego.
Pour over the dressing and gently toss to combine everything. Divide among plates, top with the remaining Manchego and serve.
