Podded Spring Salad
I hadn't tried broad beans until last week at a food shoot and immediately, I knew I had to eat them more often! They're such a unique spring vegetable and, with my ever-growing love for peas in check, I couldn't resist this recipe from Donna Hay. It's a wonderful combination of sweet peas, freshly-podded broad beans, zingy lemon, fresh dill and a solid hunk of buffalo mozzarella. This salad is essentially an exhibition of spring's finest flavours, and it goes down a treat on those warm but breezy spring afternoons.
What you'll need:
200g podded broad beans
250g baby peas
Juice of half a lemon
3 tablespoons dill, roughly chopped
1 golden shallot (otherwise known as an eschallot), thinly sliced
1 buffalo mozzarella, torn
1/4 cup of olive oil
What to do:
Bring a small saucepan to the boil and blanch broad beans for 4 minutes. Turn the heat off and use a slotted spoon to transfer beans to a colander and refresh them under cold water. Add peas to the saucepan of hot water.
Pierce the skin of each broad bean and peel it away so you have the edible bean left. Discard the skin. Place all of the beans into a bowl and combine with lemon juice, dill and shallot.
Bring the peas to a boil and drain in the colander once cooked. (The majority will be floating on the top when cooked.) Once drained, add peas to the bean mixture and combine. Season well with salt and pepper before putting them on the serving plate. Top with mozzarella and drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy!
NOTE: I omitted 1 cup of torn mint leaves from the original recipe, but you can add them if you like.
