Summertime salad with fennel and lima beans.
My typical Saturday starts by running out the door alongside my little guy pedaling away to his 9 a.m. tennis lesson on the other side of Canal de l'Ourq. Our speedy start to the day after tennis includes picking up our weekly basket of veggies, coming home to unload and rinse them, taking a shower myself and then preparing lunch before heading back out to Chinese school all afternoon long (two kids+ an hour and a half of Chinese class per kid at two different time slots—you do the math!)
My Saturday reprieve is usually the moment when I pick up my AMAP veggies. AMAP is an organized community group of subscribers who support local family farmers. It usually involves a subscription to a yearly contract and in return one gets weekly and seasonal non-treated vegetables. It is here that I exchange cheek to cheek kisses with some of the other Amapiens, discover vegetables like céleri rave and topinambour, learn new French words like oseille and panais, and exchange simple recipes such as this fennel bean salad — both ingredients happen to be in my basket this week.
So while I chitchat away, my little guy is getting his hands soiled while selecting and weighing out our vegetables on a classic mechanical scale with a proper dial and hand to add to our basket of the week.
Fennel Lima Bean Salad
INGREDIENTS//Serves 2
• 200 grams Lima Beans, tinned, frozen or fresh (if you are lucky!)
• 2 small fennel bulbs, sliced
• 1.5 tablespoon Greek yogurt (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• Half a bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
• A splash of lemon juice, fresh
• Olive oil, drizzle accordingly
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium size saucepan add about 1/3 cup of water and some sea salt.
Add the fennel and cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes.
Then drain the fennel.
If using tinned beans empty the content into the same saucepan, stir and heat the beans.
For frozen beans, just boil them.
If using fresh beans, pick them off their pods and boil them. I was stuck with a wan layer of its shell so I just peeled it off. I found it easier to peel off after it was cooked.
Drain the cooked beans, add the grated garlic, squeeze some lemon juice, and drizzle olive oil over it.
Combine the beans and fennel.
Add the yogurt (optional) and coriander and stir everything together.
Adjust with some salt if necessary.