Broad Bean and Radish Salad

The first of the summer's fresh broad beans are now appearing in the market and with the current lovely weather, it really did feel as if summer was almost here on Saturday. We snapped up the broad beans and used them to make a salad once again taken directly from the fabulous Ottolenghi - I seriously can't wait for that cookbook to come out later this week.

I often obsess about a particular ingredient and search for recipes specifically to include different ways to use it. These past few months, I've had a thing about preserved lemons. They do say that once you start cooking with them, you never look back. I bought a jar of beautiful Carley's Preserved Lemons in Wholefoods just to see how we'd get on with them, but after that made my own.

Broad Bean and Radish Salad
1 bunch of radishes
1 cup quinoa
2 lbs of broad beans
1/2 preserved lemon
fresh chopped dill and flat leaf parsley
handful of alfalfa sprouts (optional)
oil

Cook the quinoa in a saucepan in twice the amount of water. Whilst it is cooking, shell the broad beans out of their long casings. In a small pan of boiling water, blanch them for a minute or two. Run under cold water and then peel the soft light green shell casing from them. Top and tail the radishes before slicing them into rounds. Rinse and finely chop the preserved lemon, discarding the flesh. Mix all of the ingredients together and pour a little oil in to moisten - I used Udo's Oils but a good quality olive oil would do just as well. Finish with a twist of black pepper. This is summer on a plate.

Note to self: I'd probably put some sliced spring onions in this next time for added flavour.