Mixed Bean Salad With Pickled Ginger

Name: Mixed Bean Salad With Pickled Ginger
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: Juice of 2 limes (about 4 tablespoons); 2 tablespoons white miso; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar; 1 teaspoon brown sugar; 2 teaspoons soy sauce; 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil; 1/4 cup mild vegetable oil, such as safflower or peanut; Salt and pepper, to taste; 1 1/2 cups raw fresh shelling beans, such as cranberry beans, butter beans or black-eyed peas, from about 2 pounds beans in the pod (may substitute frozen edamame or baby lima beans); 2 pounds small green beans, yellow wax beans and Romano beans, or a single type, topped and tailed; 4 scallions, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons julienned pickled ginger (see note); 2 teaspoons toasted black sesame seeds, for garnish

By David Tanis

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Rating: 4(54)
Comments: Read comments

Nostalgia aside, classic three-bean salads are not much to write home about. They are traditionally composed of red kidney beans, garbanzo beans and sad soft green beans, all from cans, and heavy on vinegar and sugar. That’s fine for camping or during a power outage. Here’s a better bean salad that takes advantage of fresh beans — and fresh shelling beans — in season. Lightly dressed with a Japanese-inspired vinaigrette and sparked with pickled ginger, it’s a most delicious departure from the ordinary. You don’t have to make your own pickled ginger, but it’s an easy, fun project.

Featured in: Beyond Potluck: A Bean Salad Worth the Shucking

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

For the Vinaigrette

Juice of 2 limes (about 4 tablespoons)
2tablespoons white miso
1teaspoon Dijon mustard
2teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1teaspoon brown sugar
2teaspoons soy sauce
1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
¼cup mild vegetable oil, such as safflower or peanut
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Salad

1½cups raw fresh shelling beans, such as cranberry beans, butter beans or black-eyed peas, from about 2 pounds beans in the pod (may substitute frozen edamame or baby lima beans)
2pounds small green beans, yellow wax beans and Romano beans, or a single type, topped and tailed
4scallions, thinly sliced
2tablespoons julienned pickled ginger (see note)
2teaspoons toasted black sesame seeds, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Make the Vinaigrette
1. Step 1
  In a small bowl, put lime juice, miso, mustard, rice wine vinegar and brown sugar. Whisk together, dissolving ingredients, until mixture is creamy, a minute or so. Add soy sauce, sesame oil and vegetable oil and whisk again. Taste, adding salt and pepper as desired.
2. Step 2
  Put the shell beans and a good pinch of salt in a small saucepan with just enough water to cover. Simmer gently for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender. Let cool in cooking liquid. (If using frozen beans, just drop in salted boiling water for 1 minute, then drain.)
3. Step 3
  Fill a large saucepan ¾ full with well-salted water and bring to a boil. Add green beans, yellow wax beans and Romano beans and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until firm-tender. Drain and spread out on a towel to cool. (If the different kinds of beans vary greatly in size, cook in separate batches.)
Assemble the Salad
1. Step 4
  Assemble the salad: Put green bean mixture in a large shallow salad bowl. Drain shell beans and add to bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Dress lightly with half the vinaigrette and toss gently. Leave for 10 minutes and taste for seasoning. Add more vinaigrette as necessary, but only enough to coat. (Any remaining vinaigrette makes a nice dressing for a green salad). Scatter scallions and pickled ginger strips over salad. Sprinkle with back sesame seeds.

Tip

To make your own pickled ginger, use a 2- to 3-inch chunk of peeled ginger, preferably thin-skinned young ginger. Slice it paper-thin, lengthwise, with a sharp knife or mandolin and put it in a small jar. Add 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar. Stir to combine ingredients, making sure ginger is submerged. In about an hour, ginger will be ready to use (and perhaps faintly pink); it will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator.