Louella Berryman

Happy New Year! The start of a new year requires new recipes and I hope this tasty dish is the first of many.  You also may notice that my blog looks a little different to the last time I posted and I hope you like the new theme as much as I do. You can also now find me at a somewhat more streamline web address: http://www.beankitchen.com.  I know I’ve been a bit bad recently and not posting nearly as much as I should, but with the year anniversary of my first blog post coming up I’ve been feeling much more motivated to create delicious things.  Speaking of delicious things, THIS salad. I love all the separate elements in this dish, sweet peppers, mellow beans and melt in the mouth roasted garlic.  And after all that goodness, the lemony shallot and honey dressing cuts through the richness of the garlicy veg and makes for one tasty dish.  You could have this as a filling side salad with a gratin or tart too!

Shopping List

For One:

5 small sweet peppers (available at Tesco, Waitrose and large markets and independent shops)

a handful of french beans

2 large cloves of garlic

1/2 a lemon

1 shallot

2 teaspoons of honey

a glug of extra virgin olive oil

white wine vinegar

salt and pepper

Lets get started

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees ready for the veg. Slice your peppers in half and deseed then place on a baking tray. Chop the tips off the beans and put them on the tray too.  Use a large knife place the flat side into a clove of garlic, using the palm of your hand to squish it down until the papery skins start to come off. Put the garlic on the tray and then put the tray into the oven.

Whilst the veg is cooking squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a little bowl and give it a stir. Add a glug of extra virgin olive oil, the honey,  a splash of vinegar and some salt and pepper and whisk with a fork until combined. Then finely slice your shallot and add to the dressing, giving it another quick stir.

Once the veg has been in the oven for 15 minutes, remove it and place in a bowl. Pour over as much of the dressing as you would like, I recommend a light coat as, as tasty as it is, no one wants soggy green beans. Pile onto a plate or serving dish and enjoy!

I would love to hear what you think about this recipe so please leave a comment on this post if you have any suggestions or tips.

Thanks for reading as ever, have a wonderful week!