French bean salad

A vegetable based starter is an excellent way of contributing to the recommended five-a-day for fruit & vegetables. I first thought about a simple French bean (haricot verts) salad as a starter after witnessing two rather slim Parisian ladies 'tucking' into this at lunchtime.

I felt quite satisfied as I was eating the same thing, but noticed that along with sipping mineral water they went on to eat another plate of this salad for main course. Needless to say I wasn't eating, or drinking the same as them at this stage!

Recipe provided by Fiona at recipes2share.com

Serves	Cooking times	Prep time
4	5 mins	5 mins

Ingredients

200g of French Beans (Haricot Verts)

2tbs of Vinaigrette

Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 Shallot, Very Finely Chopped

Zest of 1 Lemon, Finely Chopped

2tbs of Chopped Parsley

Method

1. Wash, top and tail the beans - It isn't always necessary with very fine beans, but this is preference. Steam or boil in a small amount of water until al denté - cooked but with a bite remaining.

2. Immediately plunge the beans into iced water - To stop further cooking and protect their vivid green colour.

3. Drain then pat dry on kitchen paper.

4. Toss the beans in vinaigrette and season. Chill until required.

5. Arrange on serving plates and garnish with the chopped shallot, lemon zest and parsley.

Ingredients
Method