This awesome salad takes just ten minutes to make and it’s totally fuss-free! It’s so easy to throw together and there are no complicated steps, so even the newest cook will be able to ace it. It’s a wonderful dish to serve as a side as it doesn’t have any strong, overpowering flavors: instead the mix of beans, tomatoes, pine nuts, basil, lime and sesame seeds subtly blends into any main dish, adding great textures and extra goodness. It’s especially good with the Creamy Sweet Potato or Mushroom Risotto and, as shown here, with other salads as part of a lunch box.
Serves 6 (as a side dish)
1 pound green beans
4 large tomatoes
6 tablespoons pine nuts
handful of fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup sesame seeds
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Cut the ends from the beans, then chop them into thirds. Place these in a steamer and steam for 10 minutes until they’re ever so slightly crunchy, but soft enough to eat.
Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes, discarding the seedy centers.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan for a minute or so, until they smell toasty and turn a shade darker.
Finely chop the basil leaves.
Place the tomatoes in a bowl with the toasted pine nuts, basil, sesame seeds, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the beans once they’re cooked, then stir everything together.