A Bright and Springy Flageolet Salad

I have no idea what the weather has been like near you lately, but for us here in Toronto, it's felt like winter is just dragging its feet on the way out the door. Last weekend, the rain put me into a continuous funk that I didn't get out of until I was met by the sunshine today.

It probably helped that I got to get up at 9:30 as well. Usually I'm up 3 hours earlier.

I had great dinner plans with a friend for tonight that totally fell through in the wake of her work deadlines, so I found myself scrambling for something to make for dinner. I'd gone grocery shopping earlier in the day, but most of my meals had been bought with dark and dreary weather in mind, not the lemon sunshine and azure skies kind of day like we had.

Over the winter months, my cooking incorporates a lot of legumes. I love how hearty and stick-to-your-ribedness they are. I also love how much using them reduces our meat consumption and (by extension) our grocery bill. But, legumes aren't just for those pork rich casseroles, they also make great foils for bright flavours like lemon, capers and parsley.

 

Flageolet Salad with Lemons and Capers

(adapted from Nigel Slater's Real Food)

Ingredients

300 grams (about 2/3 of a pound) dried flageolet beans,
                  broken ones picked over and discarded
1 lemon, scrubbed and cut in half
1 whole head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
1 stalk celery, cut into 4 inch hunks
3 bay leaves
kosher salt

4 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
a palmful of parsley leaves (20-30), coarsely chopped
4-5 mint leaves, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place dried beans in a non-reactive container. Cover with cold water and let sit overnight. Beans will swell in size.

2. Drain beans from their soaking liquid and place in a large non reactive pot with lemon halves, garlic halves, bay leaves and celery.

DO NOT add salt at this point. Doing so will toughen the skins of the beans. Cover with plenty of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook, continuing to boil gently for 35-60 minutes (cooking time will depend on the freshness of your beans). Once beans are almost tender (45 minutes for me), add salt to cooking liquid. Continue to cook until completely tender.

3. In a food processor, pulse too mix together capers and garlic. Slowly add in oil, pouring through tube. Continue pulsing to add in lemon juice, parsley and mint. The mixture will resemble sludge, but you're actually aiming for that!

4. Remove celery, whole garlic, lemon halves and bay leaves from beans. You may also need to fish out some garlic skins. Drain beans and place in a large, non reactive bowl. Pour dressing mixture and toss gently to combine.

This salad needs a least a half hour to let the flavours combine and take the edge off the dried garlic. Feel free to let it mellow overnight. Be sure to leave it on the counter for at least a ½ hour before eating so the olive oil is in its liquid state.

A casserole for a party

So, remember that whole legumes + pork kick I'm on?

Yeah, that hasn't stopped yet. I've been dying to try this recipe for the better part of a year, but couldn't because dried flageolet beans weren't readily available at my local grocery store. They taste a lot like navy beans, so feel free to substitute those!

Though this recipe takes a while (especially if you let the beans soak in their cooking liquid overnight), I think it's well worth it. Creamy, porky, yummy.

For the record, I apologize in advance for the weird formatting here. The source for the recipe wasn't formatting friendly!

Fine Cooking's Flageolet Bean Gratin with Sausage

(Cooking.com)

Recipe Ingredients

1 pound dried flageolet beans

1 large onion, peeled and quartered

1 head garlic, cloves separated but not peeled

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh sage

1 sprig fresh thyme

2 teaspoon salt

For the Gratin:

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, finely diced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound French-style garlic sausage or sweet Italian sausage

2 cups homemade bread crumbs

Homemade or low-salt canned chicken stock if needed

Directions
1. FOR THE BEANS: Pick over the beans. Soak if desired and drain. In a large, heavy-based pot, cover the beans with 8 cups cold water. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, sage, and thyme; bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to a bare simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface. Simmer gently until the beans have softened, about 1 and 1/2 hours. Add the salt and continue cooking until the beans are quite tender, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Allow the beans to cool in the broth. Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors meld. 2. FOR THE GRATIN: Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Discard the garlic and any stems from the herbs. In a frying pan, heat 4 Tbs. of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper; cook until the onions are soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the thyme, sage, and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. 3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the beans with the onion mixture. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. The mixture should be highly seasoned. Transfer the beans to a shallow 2 1/2 qt. casserole. 4. In a hot frying pan, brown the sausages well on all sides. Let the sausages cool before cutting them into 1 1/2 -inch thick slices. Arrange the sliced sausages over the beans, then push them down beneath the surface of the beans with a wooden spoon. 5. Bring the reserved cooking liquid to a boil and pour enough of it into the casserole to barely cover the beans (add chicken stock if there isn’t enough). Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and, with a wooden spoon, push them down a bit to absorb some of the liquid. Drizzle the remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil over the top. Cover with aluminum foil, set the pan on a baking sheet to catch any drips, and bake for 30 min. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees and continue cooking for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook until the surface is golden brown and the juices are bubbling, about 15 minutes longer.      The recipe claims to serve 6. I'd base closer bets on 8.