Roasted Corn on the Cob and Mix Bean Salad
I have used this fabulous salad as an accompaniment to two dishes but as it is so good it deserves a feature of its own. I love corn on the cob and I normally eat too much and only stop when I cannot face picking corn kernels from my teeth any more. Corn on the cob is a sign of late summer and is synonymous with harvest festivals and the celebration of the fruits provided by mother nature.
The technique of semi-drying tomatoes is also a feature of this recipe. When I have a glut of tomatoes I usually semi-dry them with fresh garlic, thyme and freshly cracked black pepper. Once they are dry I preserve them by keeping them in a sterilized glass jar covered with olive oil. These tomatoes are brilliant in salad, risottos and pasta dishes.
I have used bobby beans for this recipe, if you do not have bobby beans then use normal green beans as a substitute. I can hear you ask what are bobby beans? Well it’s a green bean that is larger than a dwarf bean with a light furry feel. The seeds have developed and sometimes you can even pick them out. In short they are over grown green beans.
I normally do not follow savoury recipes to the letter as I like to make my own variations and techniques, but when it describes how to cook dried pulses I’m all ears and do not dismiss any warnings. Cooking pulses is easy but you must follow the rules carefully. Always hydrate the dried beans over night in 5 times the ratio of water to dried beans. The dryer the beans the longer it will take to hydrate, to be on the safe side leave it overnight. Secondly you must wash the hydrated beans under cold running water. Thirdly cook the beans in a large saucepan, cover generously with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer the beans gently until nearly cooked before you add the salt. If you add the salt at the beginning the skins will remain tough and the beans will never cook.
Semi-dried Heirloom Tomatoes
- 2 tiger plum tomatoes
- 5 vine baby plum tomatoes
- 2 alternative green tomatoes
- 1 sprig of lemon thyme
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 100°C and line a baking tray.
Wash the tomatoes and cut them in 1/4's regardless of their size.
Place the cut tomatoes on the lined baking tray, lightly season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and scatter the leaves from the lemon thyme over the tomatoes.
Place the tray in the preheated oven for two hours.
Once the tomatoes are semi-dried remove the tray from the oven and drizzle the oil over. Let the tomatoes cool.
Golden Onion and Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 4 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 1 small onions
- 1 clove of garlic
- 6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp golden caster sugar
- 1tsp fresh lemon thyme chopped
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Peel and finely chop the onion and crush the clove of garlic.
Heat a small sauce pan with the olive oil and gently saute the chopped onions and garlic until golden brown, season.
Add the sugar and remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the vinegar and chopped thyme.
Let the vinaigrette infuse and cool.
Roasted Corn on Cob and Mixed Bean Salad
- 200g bobby beans
- 100g dried haricot, soaked over night
- 1 sprig of lemon thyme
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 corn on the cob
- 1tbs extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Semi-dried Heirloom Tomatoes
- Golden onion and balsamic vinaigrette
Soak the haricot beans in cold water over night. I work on 5 times the volume of water to beans.
The following day drain the beans, place them in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water , add the sprig of thyme and crush the garlic clove lightly with the back of your hand. Bring the beans to the boil, reduce the heat to a light simmer and cook the beans until nearly done, add a teaspoon of salt for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Once the beans are cooked let them cool in the cooking liquid.
In the mean time preheat the oven to 180°C, remove the husks from the corn and place it on a large piece of foil, season with salt and pepper and pour over the olive oil, wrap the corn in the foil and roast in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes, until the corn is tender and cooked. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then use a serrated knife to cut the roasted corn kernels from the cob.
Remove the tops of the bobby beans and wash. Blanch them until al-dente in salted rapid boiling water, once cooked, drain and dunk in ice water.
Mix the roasted corn, cooked bobby beans, drained cook haricot beans and semi-dried tomatoes with a good helping of the vinaigrette, season to taste and serve.
Serves 4 - 6
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This looks delicious! So colourful.
My tomato plants are ripening up so I’m keen on the semi-dried tomatoes idea. How well do they keep under olive oil? I’m not sure how much of the harvest it’s worth preserving this way if they don’t last long.
They last for a long time providing they are handled with clean hands (I were disposable rubber gloves), sterilize the glass jar correctly and I normally use the cheaper olive oil however the olive oil can be used for cooking one you have used all the tomatoes. Keep them refrigerated or I sometimes freeze the semi-dried tomatoes without keeping them in oil. The oil locks out any fresh air and so does freezing them.
Good luck and enjoy!