Helen Rose and Gerardo Calia – St Dunstan’s Church
Here is a meat-free recipe which you might like to consider for the 40 days of Lent. We like this one because it is full of flavour and cheap.
Serves 4
500g small new or salad potatoes
200g French beans, trimmed
120g tin sardine fillets (or pilchard fillets) in olive oil
A good squeeze of lemon juice
A little extra virgin olive oil (if needed)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Cut the potatoes into 2 or 3 pieces each. Put them into a saucepan, cover with water and add salt. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 6-10 mins until tender.
2. Meanwhile, cut the French beans into 3-4 cm lengths and add to the pan for the last 3-5 mins – they should still have a bit of crunch when cooked.
3. Drain the potatoes and beans well and leave to cool until warm, or at room temperature. Tip the sardines (or pilchards) with their oil, into a large bowl. Add some salt and pepper and the lemon juice, then use a fork to mash the sardines to a rough puree.
4. Tip the cooled potatoes and beans into the bowl with the sardines and toss thoroughly so that the vegetables are well coated in the fishy dressing. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice and/or a little extra virgin olive oil as needed, then serve.
Plus one: Try stirring a handful of roughly chopped stoned black olives into the mix.
Plus two: A hard-boiled egg or two will add further to the salade niçoise effect.
Swap: If you can’t get French beans, this salad is also lovely with Little Gem lettuce hearts. You could shred the lettuce or just halve or quarter the hearts.
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