Monday, September 9, 2013

"River Cottage Veg Everyday" - Tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad


Today I am featuring the "Tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad" as my eighth post in my River Cottage Veg Everyday series. Still lots of sunshine and late summer weather around here - meaning that we enjoyed this huge salad as a lovely outside lunch.




Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall comments this recipe with the following words " this lovely recipe is as much about the dressing as the salad". That is quite true because what he calls the "thick, trickling dressing" seems to be particularly good when you add chargrilled summer veg (remember those from my sixth post) such as courgettes and tomatoes to the fresh salad greens.




For the salad greens I used a head of romaine lettuce and a whole bunch of arugula and added a few fresh basil leaves to the mix. For the vegetables I used chargrilled cherry tomatoes as well as summer squash and courgettes. And steamed some lovely French beans.




This tahini dressing also works very well with lentils, barley and other legumes. It contains the following ingredients, namely a bit of garlic, sea salt, tahini (a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds), the zest and juice of a lemon, juice of an orange, some local honey, fruity olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Tangy and a bit thick this "trickling dressing" was very well received at our house.




While all those lovely courgettes and summer squashes and cherry tomatoes are still abundantly available, I like the fact that I can double up on the chargrilled vegetables, serve some of them the first day just as is with some fresh lemon juice and keep some of them for the next day and make this colorful and hearty salad. Perfect family meal and if you add a lovely loaf of bread, it will be even more wonderful!

If you own the English edition of this vegetable cookbook, you will find the recipe for the "Tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad" on page 74 in the chapter on "Hearty Salads".


22 comments:

  1. Oooohooooh Andrea! I love your vegetables, all of them!Perfectly cut, perfectly layed out and wonderfully photographed. Wow!
    ...I've bought some Tahini and didn't know what to do with it... until now!
    Thank you Andrea, I think I could eat it every day!
    (see, I don't fall only for chocolate ;-) )

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    1. Lieben Dank, Carola, I hope that my series does not convey the feeling that I do not like chocolate and cookies and cakes but rather as a quest to incorporate more veg into our diets. I am strong believer in balance - thank you for the nice comment, dear, hopefully you will put the tahini to good use, this salad dressing is a good way to use some of it and there are more recipes to come in this series that list tahini as one of the ingredients!
      Liebe Grüße in die Schweiz!

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  2. courgettes and green beans add a beautiful crunch...charred cherry tomatoes add a sweet tartness...tahini adds depth of flavor and the greens are perfectly combined....your beautiful recipe shows that combining greens can be elegant...its not just a toss,but a thoughtful combination which results in a scrumptious summer green salad....loved this recipe,thanks so much for sharing Andrea....HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!:-)

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    1. Kumar, you are too kind - sounds like you liked this huge platter with salad greens and veggies - it did look nice when I served it and we loved the colors and tastes of this recipe a lot - thank you so much for all your very nice and thoughtful comments!

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  3. OOOO, La, La,
    I'd love this immediatley for my lunch & dinner :) Xxxxkiss from MN.

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    1. Kim, you are so kind! Thanks for stopping by - glad you are enjoying my veggie posts!

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  4. healthy and delicious, i love lots of tomatoes

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  5. I agree...the Tahini dressing would go very well in this salad. The salad looks so appealing! I think, I must give this a try very soon!!

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    1. Thank you, Purabi, tahini plus the other ingredients made for a wonderful, thick and tangy salad dressing that would go well with so many kinds of salads including those with chargrilled veg and legumes.

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  6. Ooh, tahini would be good as a salad dressing.
    Great pics, Andrea.

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    1. Thank you very much, dear Colette! I was curious about this recipe and very pleased with the way it turned out, thick and delicious, a bit tangy and different - a real winner at our house.

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  7. I could probably eat this whole salad by myself Andrea! It looks so fresh and delicious. I've been a huge tahini fan for years, love everything you've got in here!

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    1. Chris, these salads are truly wonderful at this time of year - still loats of veg available to prepare recipe like this! Tahini in the dressing was a first for me, although I use it for dips and hummus and other delicious things. Thanks for commenting!

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  8. The salad looks and sounds delicious. I love the idea of putting basil leaves in your salad.

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    1. Geraldine, fresh basil in the salad gives it a bit of a different taste - I like that much better than using only regular salad greens - thank you for the nice comment!

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  9. I am loving this series of posts on different vegetables, it is giving me all sorts of ideas for adding extra vegetable into our meals. I do use Tahini a lot at home, my husband even eats it as a spread on toast he likes it that much.

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    1. Karen, I am so glad that my posts are providing inspiration - thank you for letting me know! Comments like yours encourage me to plough on!

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  10. This is so fresh and different form most salads, and it is all because of the incredible dressing. I get into a rut on dressings, often choosing simply oil and vinegar. (Okay, it is really good olive oil and usually a specialty vinegar like white balsamic and pear...) I will try this. Sadly, the book has not arrived yet! :( Das ist schade... aber bald, hoffe Ich! ~ David

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    1. David, too bad it is taking so much time for the book to arrive - did you order the UK or the US edition? As soon as it does arrive, let me know how you like it, please. The dressing for this salad was different and delicious - certainly inspirational too - it is easy to get stuck in the rut with always making the same dressing, I tend to stick to two tried-and-true recipes myself.

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  11. I've never put zucchini in the salad! I'm stealing the idea. :) I really like the colorful plate! I am more familiar with sesame dressing, but someone told me tahini sauce/paste is very similar. I'd love to try it!

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    1. Nami, roasted zucchini are extremly wonderful in salads. The tahini paste has only been gracing my shelves recently, a rather recent discovery for me as well - it tastes quite different from the Asian sesame oil that I so like using in my Asian-inspired cooking. Bu both are delicious condiments in their own way.

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