Bean salad with fennel and radicchio
Jan 31st, 2009 by Amy
Its been a relatively quiet blog week for us so I wanted to finish the week with something really good. It was supposed to serve 4 but we ate almost all of it for one dinner. I didn’t even give Matt a chance for the leftovers.
It is another recipe from Heirloom Beans, which I continue to be impressed with. The ingredients are perfect for a local winter meal in the Northwest - fennel, radicchio, hazelnuts. The fennel came from Market of Choice - it was the only vegetable with the locally grown label on it. We used Ayers Creek Farm soldier beans, and hazelnuts from a local orchard.
On a separate subject, I spent some time in the garden today adding some of our homemade compost and organic material to the beds to get them ready for planting. We doubled the size of our garden this past fall, but I am sure we won’t have a hard time filling it. I had to scramble to order seed catalogs after I learned from Urban Hennery that one of Territorial’s main seed sources was purchased by Monsanto. After getting a preview from a classmate at my Master Gardener class this past week, I am anxiously awaiting my copy of Seed Savers Exchange.
Bean salad with fennel and radicchio, adapted from Heirloom Beans
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and cut lengthwise in 1/3 in slices
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts, crushed into pieces
1 head radicchio, core removed and sliced thinly crosswise
1-1/2 cups white beans (we used soldier beans from Ayers Creek Farm)
2 chicken sausages, diced (we used smoked chicken with apple)
Parmesan cheese
Dressing ingredients
1/2 shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
4 Tbsp olive oil
Drizzle fennel slices with olive oil, and add salt and pepper. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and cook fennel on each side until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Chop fennel and set aside.
To make the dressing, whisk together the shallot, mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar. Add olive oil slowly, whisking continuously.
Put fennel, radicchio in large salad bowl. Add beans, sausage, and hazelnuts. Add dressing and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
For more information and recipes on beans and grains, click here.
I’m glad to hear you posting good things about the Heirloom Beans book - I just ordered a copy on Thursday and can’t wait for it to arrive. They really are so versatile. Are there many sources for nuts where you are? There aren’t around here, and I wish there were.
OMG that sounds sooooo good!!!! I can’t wait to try this recipe! It seems like a healthy delicious dinner that can be made quickly.
AMY: I was notified to your blog by Google Alerts. Please note that Seminis is the company that you speak of that is now owned by Monsanto. Seminis is NOT a major supplier of Territorial Seed Company. In fact, we are now our own largest seed supplier as 25% of all the vegetable seed we sell comes from our certified organic London Spring Farms. Its apparent that Seminis’s Home Garden division business model and ours no longer track. We are actively conducting vegetagle trials looking for suitable replacements for the few remaining items from Seminis. Sadly, true replacements for some of the classic hybrids such as Celebrity, Super Marzano, and Big Beef tomatoes will never be found. These items were crafted years ago specificly for home gardeners by the breeding artists of the old Petoseed company, the original company we signed up to do business with 30 years ago.
Tom
It was delicious! And I’m really glad Tom commented with updated information about Territorial. Good to know.
Mangochild - You are going to love the Heirloom Bean book. Can’t wait to read about what you cook. I am making another recipe this afternoon to take to a party. To answer your question about nuts - we are really lucky in that regard. Oregon has the largest hazelnut/filbert crop in the US, so we can easily get local hazelnuts. We can also get local walnuts and chestnuts. We get almonds from California. I believe our pine nuts come from the Southwest - Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. I often substitute locally grown nuts for those that are less local in recipes.
Erika & Eugenia - Thanks for the note.
Tom - Thank you so much for keeping track of what your customers are saying about Territorial and clarifying your direction. I hope to get some more specific information from you so we can use some of your seed for our garden this year!
[...] supplied seeds. We received a comment from Territorial owner Tom Johns within a day after we wrote here about our concern. Tom wrote that a majority of their seeds are now developed on their own farm [...]