Green beans are in season here in Australia and this is my all time favorite green bean salad recipe, the recipe comes from volume 2 of The Hungry Girls' Cookbook series which by the way are on sale!! (I am not an affiliate just a fan). Normally $25 the girls are taking $10 off each book. For those who don't know their story, Rachel, Leah and Katherine are a trio of talented friends who got together and created three beautiful handmade cookbooks. Rachel writes the recipes, Leah takes the beautiful photos and Katherine takes care of the design and illustration and then with a team of helpers they sit around, drink tea, eat cake and hand stitch up the books. Well, I don't know for certain if there's tea and cake involved but I'm guessing there's a good chance.
Let's get into the recipe. I am not one to stick to recipes, I tend to do a lot of substituting based on what I have on hand and what needs to be eaten. I have made this recipe many times true to Rachel's original and other times I have used different herbs or nuts such as almond or pecans, I preferred the almonds over the pecans. Sorry Rachel! I'm not messing with your recipe just want people to give it a go and not be held back if you don't have pistachios in the cupboard. (that's why there is pecans in the picture above not pistachios)
As most of you know I am big on involving kids in cooking meals rather than just including them when we bake. I made this salad recently and set Sol and River up to top and tail the beans and cut them in half, kept them quiet for almost half an hour and while they weren't keen to eat a whole bowl of the finished product they were both happy to try some beans. Encouraging children to at least try a variety of vegetables is key to raising healthy eaters and if they are involved in the cooking process this is more likely to happen.
Enjoy this recipe, it is super delicious. Thanks again Hungry Girls.
Fried Green Bean, Breadcrumbs and Pistachio Salad
"This dish came about with some stuffing leftover from Christmas and a heap of beans picked from the garden. It's packed with flavour, so serve it with something simple, like a piece of plain grilled fish and some lemon wedges. The only thing you really need to prepare in advance is the breadcrumbs."
80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
Handful sage leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
700g green beans, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 cup grated parmesan
1/3 bunch parsley, chopped
1/3 teaspoon salt
black pepper
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add the oil, onion and sage.
Fry until the onion is soft and browning at the edges.
Add the garlic and beans and turn the heat to high.
Fry, stirring regularly, for around 5 minutes, until the beans are almost cooked.
Add the pistachios, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.
Fry, stirring constantly, for a few more minutes until the breadcrumbs are crisp. Some will clump together with the parmesan. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure the mixture isn't burning, although a little bit of sticking makes for good crispy bits.
This salad is equally delicious hot or cold.
Serves 6
Lovely Nicki! And I couldn't agree more about getting the kids involved in cooking jobs other than baking. A favourite moment in our house recently was getting my 4 year old daughter to use her scissors to cut up the seaweed to put on top of our okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes) for dinner. I thought, who cares if we don't end up with elegant slivers - she had a ball! And our 19 month old son was sitting up on the kitchen bench snacking on the seaweed pieces hot off the press ... eventually putting large wads in his mouth and, well, soon I had to put a stop to it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel for stopping by loved reading your comment here. Cute image of your children helping out in the kitchen. I'd also like to hear them pronounce okonomiyaki :) Thanks again so much for sharing your recipe x
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