Italian Bean Salad

This salad recipe doesn’t appear to be anything exciting, but I guarantee once you make it you will be hooked. The mix of oregano, garlic, onion, vinegar and olive oil transform the humble garden bean into something surprisingly addictive (even if beans aren’t your thing).

This salad is from my late grandmother’s kitchen, originating from her homegrown beans, part of her and my grandfather’s beloved vegetable harvest.

My grandparents always had an affinity with the land. When they first immigrated from Italy, my Nonno lived in a small house in a farming community. He worked hard and when he could afford it, he bought a small orchard. The land was incredibly fertile, and he had every fruit tree you could imagine, as well as a huge vegetable garden. I can vividly remember the rows of bamboo stakes covered in beans.

Once the orchard got too much to manage, they moved to a plot next door. It had much less land, but they still managed to grow an amazing amount of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a trip to their house would always result in us taking home bags and bags of their harvest.

This salad made good use of those rows and rows of beans and was on the table at every family get together.  I was a fussy child, and not much of a vegetable eater, but I loved this salad. Everyone did.

The traditional bean to use here are Italian flat Romano pole beans. If you can’t find them feel free to use another variety.

This is best if made ahead of time so the beans have time to absorb the flavours.

Italian Bean Salad

Italian flavours turn the humble bean into a delicious side dish.

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Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 kg flat Romano pole beans, trimmed
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ brown onion, peeled and finely sliced
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup white vinegar
• salt

Method

 

1. Cook the beans in a pot of boiling water until just tender.
2. Drain in a colander, allow to cool for a couple of minutes then transfer to a large bowl.
3.  Add the oregano, garlic, onion, olive oil, vinegar and a pinch of salt and stir everything together so that the beans are well coated. Taste and add more salt if needed.
4. This is delicious straight away, but it is best made the day before so that the beans absorb all the flavours overnight.

Recipe from my book – Easy Home Cooking Italian Style, New Holland Publishers, Photo – Jonathan VDK