Artichoke and Broad Bean Salad

Broad bean salad with labneh

Slow cooked peas, artichokes and broad beans with sweet herbs and lemon

Chorizo and Pinto Bean Salad

Tonight we made a salad of spinach leaves with bacon, mozzarella, broad beans and avocado, which we served with a simple dressing made from olive oil, lemon juice, wholegrain mustard and salt and pepper. We also made some toasted sliced of bread drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with a garlic clove.

This had the potential to be really good, or so we thought, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. The bacon was from Emmet’s, a really good deli in Peasenhall in Suffolk. They make their own bacon and we’ve had it before and really liked it, but this time although it had a good flavour, it tasted very, very salty and was quite chewy (that was probably overcooking on our part). The broad beans were a bit floury in the middle – maybe we didn’t cook them enough. And the avocado wasn’t quite ripe enough.

Also, either one of the avocado or the beans (probably the avocado) needed to go – they just didn’t work well together. The avocado did work well on its own in the dressing, but didn’t go well with the rest of the salad. The garlicky toasted croutons were good though, and the mozzarella was nice. Apart from them though, it was just an excuse for a complete moan-fest, so apologies for that

Try this Artichoke and Broad Bean Salad recipe

• 4 Artichoke hearts
• 1 lb Fresh broad beans
• 1 Sprig fresh mint
• The juice of half lemon
• Vinaigrette

Cook artichokes in water with a pinch of salt and a little lemon juice.In a separate pan cook the broad beans in water with a little salt and 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar and the fresh mint.

Drain the artichokes and cut in eight pieces each.Drain the broad beans and put them together with the artichokes in a bowl. Add salt and pepper and the vinaigrette which you make by mixing vinegar, olive oil and mustard and also one clove of garlic put through the garlic press.

Sprinkle with dried mint and leave to stand for a while to absorb the taste of the vinaigrette before serving. The artichoke bean salad is ready to serve...enjoy this great salad !