Oh, it’s lovely. So easy to make. And the ingredients are pantry staples. It’s inspired by a salad prepared on the last episode of Season 2 ofSelena + Chefon HBO.
Selena… who? Selena Gomez, the singer. She has a cooking show on HBO where she learns cooking from professional chefs. It’s remote learning because, you know… We love the show. Spontaneous and honest. Not that we found all guest chefs good but most were helpful in ways that say they understand the essential difference between home cooking and restaurant cooking. So, which chef did the green bean salad with Selena Gomez? Aarti Sequeira.
Of course, this green bean salad recipe had been tweaked to our preferences. The choice of nuts and the ratio of ingredients for the salad dressing, in particular, were modified to suit our taste.
The green beans were steamed. You may drop them in boiling water if that’s easier for you.
The Brazil nuts went into the oven toaster where they roasted. After cooking, they were hand chopped.
The salad dressing is a simple sweet-sour concoction. Honey, lemon juice and olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper were just whisked together until blended.
After steaming, the green beans were transferred to a mixing bow, the Brazil nuts were dumped in and the salad dressing was drizzled in. Everything was tossed together until the dressing coated every piece of solid ingredient.
Finally, mint leaves. Oh, don’t underestimate this delighful herb. They give such a bright and summery flavor and aroma to the green bean salad.
Equipment
- Steamer (see notes)
Ingredients
Salad
- 500 grams haricot vert (French green bean)
- 1 handful Brazil nuts
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 2 generous pinches rock salt
- 1 generous pinch ground black pepper
To finish
- 3 to 4 sprigs mint (leaves only)
Instructions
Steam the green beans
- Pour water into the steamer to reach a depth of at least two inches.
- Set the steamer on the stove over high heat.
- Rinse the green beans and drain.
- Spread the green beans on the steamer basket, set the basket over the pot with boiling water and cover.
- Cook the green beans over briskly boiling water for about ten minutes (no longer).
Prep the Brazil nuts
- Lightly toast the Brazil nuts until glistening with oil (we did this in the oven toaster at 350F for two minutes).
- Chop the toasted nuts.
Make the dressing
- In a mixing bowl, measure the honey, lemon juice and olive oil.
- Add the garlic, salt and pepper and whisk until the oil no longer separates from the honey and lemon juice.
Toss the salad
- Remove the green beans from the steamer using kitchen tongs and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the chopped nuts to the green beans.
- Drizzle the dressing (including the garlic) around the edges of the beans.
- Toss to coat the green beans evenly with the dressing.
- Take mint leaves, tear up, add half to the salad and toss a few times.
- Transfer the salad to a shallow bowl, sprinkle in the rest of the mint leaves and serve.
Notes
Steamer tips
We use three kinds of steamer at home similar to the ones below. The stainless steel set was used here.- The steamer that came with the rice cooker;
- Stainless steel pot and steamer basket set; and
- Bamboo steamer basket(s).
