Eatdrink #42 July/August 2013

№ 42 | July/August 2013 www.eatdrink.ca 59
Recipes courtesy River Cottage Veg: 200 Inspired Vegetable Recipes by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Appetite by Random House, May 2013, $29.95)
Tahini-dressed zucchini and green bean salad
Serves 4
For the tahini dressing
½ garlic clove, crushed with a little
coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons light tahini (stir the jar
well first)
Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
Juice of ½ orange
½ teaspoon clear honey
Sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salad
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium zucchini (about 14
ounces/400 g), sliced into 1/8-inch
rounds
Sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper
Juice of ½ lemon
1 fresh red chili, seeded and finely
chopped
About 4 ounces/125g green beans,
trimmed
4 good handfuls of salad greens
12 to 18 oven-dried tomatoes (optional)
A handful of mint, finely shredded
(optional)
1 To make the tahini dressing, put the
crushed garlic into a small bowl with
the tahini, lemon zest and juice, orange
juice, honey, and a grind of black pepper,
and stir together well. The dressing may
thicken and go grainy or pasty, but don’t
worry. Just thin it down by whisking in a
little water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get a
creamy, trickling consistency. Finally, gently stir in
the olive oil. Taste and add a little more salt and
pepper if needed. The dressing is now ready to
use.
2 For the salad, heat the olive oil in a large
nonstick frying pan over fairly high heat and
cook the zucchini slices in batches, tossing them
occasionally, for a few minutes until tender and
browned on both sides, transferring them to a
bowl once cooked.
3 When all the zucchini are cooked, season
generously with salt and pepper, add the lemon
juice and chili, and toss together well.
4 Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Tip in
the green beans, return to a boil, and blanch for
1 minute. Drain, and then dunk in cold water to
refresh. Drain again, pat dry with a clean kitchen
towel, and toss the beans with the zucchini.
5 To assemble the salad, spread the salad greens
in a large, shallow serving bowl and scatter over
the dressed zucchini and beans, tomatoes and
shredded mint, if using. Trickle the tahini dressing
generously over the whole lot and serve.
ED note: Oven-dried tomatoes are a cinch and can
be used in so many dishes. Preheat the oven to
450ºF/230ºC. Slice as many tomatoes as you like
in half lengthwise, from core to tip. Toss with
salt and pepper to taste and enough olive oil
to coat. Lay cut side up on a baking sheet. Bake
until beginning to caramelize, 20-35 minutes,
depending on the size of tomato used. Serve
warm or refrigerate for later use.