pea and bean salad with almonds and feta

broad beans are consistently one of my favourite summer vegetables. and since discovering that frozen beans, if blanched and the skins then removed, are as good as the fresh beans, they are something i regularly turn to if i need the thought of sunshine to cheer me up.

this salad is truly a taste of summer to come and a great accompaniment to many dishes – roast chicken, white fish, or a platter of italian inspired mezze (which was how we ate it).

this dish is part of vegetables, beautiful vegetables, my tribute to national vegetarian week which is currently underway in the uk.

pea and bean salad with almonds and feta (serves 6 as a side dish)

200g green beans, trimmed

250g broad beans, podded

100g whole unskinned almonds

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

75ml olive oil

75 g rocket

250g fresh peas, podded

200g feta, crumbled

1 tablespoon fresh mint, roughly chopped

blanch the green and broad beans, in separate pans, until tender (about 5 minutes). drain them both. remove the grey-green skins from the broad beans, revealing their bright greenness.

toast the almonds in a dry, non-stick pan until they turn golden. chop roughly.

mix the lemon zest and juice with the olive oil to make the dressing.

assemble the salad, mixing the rocket with half the dressing then topping this with the green beans, broad beans, almonds, peas and feta. drizzle with the remaining dressing and scatter the mint over.