Broad bean salad

Have a glut of broad beans?
make a salad and/or dip

"They're ready for picking" said the email from my local farm shop. So I picked my own. To produce about 350 grams of shelled beans, you'll need a kilo of pods.

NOTE however, if fresh pods are not available, you can use a frozen bag of them but make sure they are baby beans because otherwise the skins may be tough.

If you have picked or bought fresh pods then the first thing you have to do is to take them out their furry beds. However, this is quite a theraputic job and quite enjoyable if you can sit in the sun while doing it!

Then boil for 3- 5 mins or until tender. Do NOT add salt when boiling because this makes the skins tough. (or take these skins off - see below)

Then rinse under cold water until cool.

If you want to make a really vibrant salad, then pop them out of their pale green jackets. Just squeeze each one until it jumps out of its skin!

Add lemon juice (and a little oil if you like) and lots of feta cheese and fresh mint (don't put this on until the vegetables are quite cool because any heat from them will wilt the mint and make it look horrible - been there, done that! more haste, less speed!)

This is a great dish to enjoy with ham, bacon or cold sausage.

Alternatively, leave out the cheese and dress the green beauties in a fruity oil such as avocado and then add tiny slivers of garlic and the chopped mint.

Or add tiny green beans to a potato salad with chopped parsley, capers and mayo.

Broad bean dip

If you have some beans left over, make a tasty dip by processing 350 grams of podded and skinned broad beans, 1 shallot, 100 grams of ricotta, a small handful of flat parsley, chopped, a tablespoonful or two of olive oil and some seasoning.