This recipe is for a vegan salad. However, if you are not on a plant based diet, you might enjoy serving it with pan fried red mullet. The citrus dressing suits the fish very well.
The salad serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
- 250g black eyed beans
- 7-8 small carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 fennel bulb finely shaved with a vegetable peeler
- 2 flame roasted peppers from a jar, sliced in thin strips
- A few small chard leaves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly crushed
For the dressing
- 1 unwaxed orange, Juice and zest
- 1 unwaxed lemon, Juice and zest
- 1 tsp agave syrup
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
To serve
- Fennel fronds or chopped fresh fennel
For the red mullet (optional)
- 12 frozen red mullet fillets, defrosted
- 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
Start by cooking the black eye beans. Bring a large pan ¾ full of water to the boil. Rinse and drop the beans in the water and cook in a soft boil for 50-60 minutes. Drain and rinse under fresh water. Transfer to a bowl.
While the beans are cooking, preheat the oven to 2000 C. Put the carrots on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with 1 tbsp olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and the fennel seeds. Roast the carrots for 30 minutes.
For the chard leaves, grease a griddle pan with the other tbsp of olive oil and quickly cook the chard leaves for 30 seconds each side. Place on a flat salad platter.
For the dressing, put the lemon, orange juice and zest in a jug together with the fennel seeds and syrup. Season with salt and pepper and add the olive oil in a thin stream whisking all the time to create an emulsion.
To put the whole dish together, add to the bowl containing the beans the carrots, shaved fennel, chopped spring onions and sliced red peppers. Drizzle half of the dressing and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well. Pile the salad on top of the chard leaves, drizzle with more dressing and sprinkle with the chopped fennel.
To fry the red mullet, rinse the fish and pat it dry. With a sharp knife gently score the fillets 4-5 times each. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring a large frying pan with the olive oil to a high heat. Add the fish, skin side down pressing at first so that the fillets remain flat and cook for 3 minutes. Turn over and cook for a further 60-90 seconds till the fish is opaque. Drain on kitchen paper before serving on plates with the salad. Drizzle the fish fillets with some of the dressing.