Hot Bean Salad

I was out of potatoes so I threw something like this together one night to serve with broiled (grilled) pork chops. We enjoyed it so much that I kept making it and after a few years this is the recipe that I now call “Hot Bean Salad”. It really is a nice break from the usual sides and it looks pretty on the plate.

Ingredients

• 1lb/450g fresh green beans (haricot vert), washed and trimmed
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 slice of (streaky) bacon, diced very fine
• 1 small red onion, diced very fine
• 1 generous tsp of finely grated or diced garlic
• 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin 1″/ strips
• 1 15oz/425g can of white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Parboil the green beans until soft enough to pierce easily with a fork, rinse under cold water and drain well. Set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, once the pan is hot add the olive oil, bacon, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir until the bacon is fully cooked.
3. Add the red pepper strips and cook until they start to soften, then sprinkle over the Italian seasoning.
4. Add the kidney beans, cook and stir until heated through and starting to brown.
5. Add the green beans, cook and stir until they are hot.
6. Remove from the heat and season with salt & pepper.

Serve immediately – Serves 4

Notes

• You can add several extra slices of bacon or leave out the bacon altogether.
• Small white beans work well with this too, though if you use them you should balance the bites by cutting the pepper and green beans smaller.
• If I have it, I like to make this with finely chopped fresh rosemary and omit the Italian seasoning.
• I wouldn’t use dried rosemary, it just doesn’t taste the same and you end up with small hard twiggy bits in the dish.