Salads
Warm potato, radish and bean salad with eggs, olives and saffron mayo dressing
When new potatoes and radishes are in full swing, how better to celebrate than with this superlative salad. The herbs and capers create a salsa verde – a perfect match for the beans and eggs too. Just be careful with your seasoning, as the capers and olives both lend a saltiness to the finished dish. Cooling the eggs as fast as you can stops a black ring appearing between white and yolk. The yolk should be cooked, but slightly soft and not chalky in the middle. You could boil them for 3-4 minutes instead, then gently peel when hot, breaking the runny yolk over the warm salad just before serving.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1 pinch saffron
- 500g new potatoes
- 2 eggs
- 1 bay leaf
- 100g radishes, quartered
- 125g French beans, halved
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- small bunch of chervil
- small bunch of parsley
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 50ml mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 60g olives, halved
Method
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Step 1
Place the capers in a mug of cold water to soak. Mix the saffron with 1 tablespoon of hot water in a small bowl and leave it to steep.
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Step 2
Give the potatoes a scrub. Cut small ones in half and larger ones into quarters. Fill a large pan with cold salted water. Add the potatoes, eggs and bay leaf. Bring to the boil. After exactly 6 minutes from the moment of boiling, remove the eggs. Pop in a bowl and cool quickly in cold running water. Once you have removed the eggs, keep the potatoes cooking until they are tender to a knife tip (a few more minutes), then drain them and leave to one side to steam dry and cool a little.
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Step 3
Put a frying pan on to heat. Add the cider vinegar and 3 tablespoons water. Add the radishes and beans with a good pinch of salt. Cook on a high heat, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to nothing. They should be partly cooked but still have a slight bite to them. Remove from the heat and keep to one side.
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Step 4
Drain the capers and coarsely chop them with the chervil and parsley leaves. Peel the eggs when cooled.
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Step 5
To make the dressing, mix the mustard, mayonnaise and half the garlic with the saffron water. Mix well and season. Add more garlic to taste.
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Step 6
Mix the warm potatoes with the radishes, any reserved good radish tops, beans, olives, herbs and capers. Divide between 2 plates and top each with a cut egg. Artfully spoon over the dressing.