A substantial Spanish bean salad with peppers, tomatoes, olives and a zippy dressing. It's simple, healthy and packed full of flavour. It's also quick and easy to prepare. Hands on time is less than fifteen minutes, though it does benefit from a lengthy marinade. Perfect as a main, side or tapas.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the salad ingredients together until they've emulsified. It only takes a few seconds.
1 tbsp sherry vinegar, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove garlic, ½ tsp sea salt, good grinding of black pepper, ½ tsp smoked paprika
Add the onion and stir in whilst you deal with the other ingredients. This helps to make the onions less pungent and consequently more palatable.
1 small onion
Drain the beans through a sieve and rinse briefly with running water. Leave to drain whilst you prepare the pepper, tomatoes, parsley and olives.
400 g tinned white beans of your choice
Give the sieve a good shake to remove any excess water. Then, using a large spoon or spatula mix the beans into the dressing as gently as you can so as not to break them up.
Add the tomatoes, peppers, parsley and olives and give another gentle stir to combine
1 large bell pepper, 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 small bunch of parsley, 12 black olives
Leave to marinate for at least thirty minutes before serving. However a couple of hours will allow the beans to soak up the dressing.
Notes
Serves 4-6 as a side dish or tapas and two as a light lunch with crusty bread. Any leftovers make a perfect packed lunch for the next day.Serve at room temperature for best flavour and texture.Swap the black olives for green if you like, but you'll only need eight if they're large.
Optional Extras
60g (2oz) manchego cheese - cubed
2 hardboiled eggs - chop and mix in just before serving
1 tsp capers
If adding eggs, mix these in just before serving.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.