Turkish Bean And Herb Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the beans and their soaking water with the two crushed garlic cloves, the halved yellow onion and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer one hour. Add salt to taste, and continue to simmer until tender but intact, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard the onion halves, garlic cloves and bay leaf, and carefully drain the beans through a colander or strainer set over a bowl.
• Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half across the equator. Set a strainer over a bowl, and squeeze out the seeds from the tomatoes into the strainer. Rub the gelatinous seed sacs against the strainer to extract the juice, and discard the seeds. Grate the tomatoes against the large holes of a box grater set in a wide bowl, and discard the skins. Add the juice from the strained seeds to the grated tomatoes, and stir together.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, heavy casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until very soft but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic, and continue to cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the sugar, half the tomatoes and half the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has cooked down to a fragrant sauce, about 15 minutes. Stir in the beans, 1/2 cup of broth and the remaining tomatoes. Cover and simmer for another 25 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining herbs and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and allow to cool. Stir in the lemon juice if desired, and serve with lemon wedges. If the beans seem dry, add more of the bean broth to taste.

Steps:

• In a dry medium saucepan (one large enough to hold the green beans in Step 4), toast coriander seeds over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool. Once the seeds are cool enough to handle, use a mortar and pestle to crack them, or place them on a cutting board and crack with the flat side of a chef's knife. Set aside.
• Fill the same saucepan you used for the coriander with salted water and bring to a boil.
• While waiting for the water to boil, combine 1/4 cup vinegar, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Add onion along with fennel or celery, or both, and toss. Set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes while preparing the rest of the salad.
• To the boiling water, add the green beans and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes, until they turn bright green and are crisp-tender. Immediately drain beans in a colander, then run cold tap water over them to stop the cooking. Once cool, pat them dry.
• Add the blanched green beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, herbs and toasted coriander seeds to the marinated onions. Season with remaining salt and pepper, and gently toss to evenly combine. Taste and add more salt and vinegar if needed. (Keep in mind that you'll also be adding flaky salt to finish.) Drizzle with olive oil and flaky sea salt, and serve.

Steps:

• Place the beans in a bowl and toss with the celery and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
• If using the red onion, soak the onion in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain, rinse and drain again on paper towels. Add to the beans.
• In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with a generous pinch of salt and the red pepper flakes or the Aleppo pepper. Add the walnuts and grind together until the walnuts are coarsely ground but still have some texture. Toss with the beans.
• Whisk together the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in the oils, toss with the beans, and let marinate 30 minutes. Serve.