Warm Winter Salad

Warm Winter Salad

With Runner Beans, Avocado, Candied Walnuts & Shitake Bacon

Plant Based / Dairy Free / Gluten Free

Serves 2

This warm winter salad makes for a lovely light lunch or dinner for two. Its flavours are amazing and it holds contrasting textures that delight the palate. With wholesome ingredients, and a little of your time, this dish will satisfy and refresh, while keeping you light and healthy.

Ingredients

For the shitake bacon:

150g fresh shitake mushrooms

1tbsp soy sauce

1tsp smoked paprika

1tsp onion powder

1tsp maple syrup

A few sprays of olive oil

For the candied walnuts:

50g raw walnut halves

1tbsp maple syrup

A pinch of salt

A few sprays of olive oil

For the vinaigrette:

3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

The juice of half a lemon

1tsp Dijon mustard

1tsp dried chives

1/2tsp salt

For the salad:

400g fresh stringless runner beans

1 avocado, peeled and finely sliced

1/2 a pomegranate, the seeds

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

For the shitake bacon, finely slice the mushrooms and trim the stems. Place them in a small bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Spray a frying pan with a little oil and sauté the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms onto a lined baking tray and place them in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until they are shrivelled and crispy. Set aside.

For the candied walnuts, lower the heat of the oven to 170C. In a small bowl place the walnuts and the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Drop them on a lined baking tray and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, simply whisk all ingredients together.

Blanch the runner beans by boiling them in a pan of salted water for 3-5 minutes, until they wilt and soften. Rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process and drain.

To assemble the salad, place the beans in a bowl and coat them with half the vinaigrette.

Gently add the avocado slices, the pomegranate seeds, the shitake bacon and the walnuts and mix. Divide the salad in two plates, drizzle the remaining vinaigrette, grind some fresh black pepper and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

Double ingredients accordingly, if preparing for more than two.

Any steamed greens can be used in place of the runner beans, such as wilted spinach, courgettes, kale, broccoli etc. Alternatively, fresh leaves like romaine, rocket, lamb’s lettuce etc may be used also.