Our kitchen garden is bursting with bright greens and vibrant pops of colour. Our latest pick went straight from basket to bowl using a delicious recipe from finecooking.com. Couldn't be fresher!
Ingredients:
25g basil leaves
2 strips lemon zest
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 lb. green beans, trimmed
70g rocket, rinsed and drained
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
150g mozzarella balls
1 Tbs. lemon juice, more to taste
Method:
Bring a pot of water to a boil over a high heat. Put the basil and lemon zest in a metal sieve, immerse in the water, and blanch for 5 seconds. Remove, leaving the water in the pot.
Roughly chop the lemon zest, then put in a blender along with the basil and pulse a few times. With the blender running, pour in the olive oil until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until ready to assemble the salad.
Return the water to a boil over a high heat. Add 2 Tbs. salt and the beans. For crisp beans cook for 4 minutes, or for more tender beans 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Spread the beans on a baking sheet and refrigerate to cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled beans with the rocket, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Toss with the basil oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and more lemon juice.
