Summer Bean Salad with Umami Dressing

British Fava Fava Beans Fava Umami Paste Ferments Grains and Seeds Haricot Beans Light Pulses Salad Summer Vegan Vegetarian Whole Fava Beans

by Jenny Chandler August 20, 2017

A summer salad with plenty of ooomph provided by the fabulous depth of the Fava Umami Paste used for the dressing. This is a great dish to prepare ahead; unlike most salads it gets better after a few hours.

Serve alongside roasted tomatoes topped with garlic breadcrumbs for a perfect vegan meal or as a simple side with roast chicken or ham.

Try this dressing in winter time with a red cabbage, carrot, beetroot, orange and Carlin Pea slaw.

This recipe is from Jenny Chandler, author of the superb Pulse cookbook and United Nations Special Ambassador for The Year of Pulses in 2016!

4 as a side dish

Ingredients

Umami Dressing

75ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and cut in half
1-2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar
½ tbsp Maple Syrup
½ tbsp Fava Umami Paste
A good grind of Black Pepper

The Salad

300g Cooked Whole Fava Beans
200g French Beans, trimmed of stalks
200g Runner Beans, de-strung and sliced
200g Podded Fresh Peas (or frozen)
200g Podded Fresh Broad Beans (or frozen)
Handful of Parsley
Handful of Mint

Method

Warm the olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan until you begin to smell the garlic (the idea is to infuse the oil rather than fry the garlic).
Remove the garlic, chop finely and spoon into a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Add the oil along with the remaining dressing ingredients, shake to bring everything together. Taste, you may like to tinker around with the balance, add a little salt if you like but the Umami paste brings so much salty, savoury depth that I doubt you will need it.
Warm the pulses in their cooking juices or any liquid from the tin, drain and then pour over the umami dressing. The warmed pulses will sup up the flavours beautifully.
Now blanch or steam your green veg’, just until tender and then plunge into cold water to keep the vibrant colour. If you are using frozen peas or beans they will need less than a minute in boiling water from frozen
It really is worth double-podding your broad beans to reveal the dazzlingly bright, sweet flesh within.
Chop the mint and parsley roughly.
Mix the greens carefully with the dressed beans and herbs (keeping a few leaves back to garnish the salad with just before serving)
And of course………… you could add sun blush tomatoes, radishes, asparagus, new potatoes, quinoa, pearled spelt or any other bits you feel like.

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