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Vikki’s Haricot Bean and Barley Rusk Salad

Vikki's Haricot Bean and Barley Rusk Salad is a beautiful fusion of textures and flavours - haricot beans; crunchy, toasted barley rusks; and creamy avocados; brought together with ripe tomatoes, zingy lemon juice, dill and parsley! Perfect as a light meal or as a side to your favourite meat. 

Course: Salad
Cuisine: Greek
Keyword: avocado, Barley Rusk, Haricot Bean, salad, tomato
Ingredients
For the Haricot Bean and Barley Rusk Salad you will need…
  • 100 g dried haricot beans
  • 6 cups of water
  • 2 large or 4 small barley rusks
  • 3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes
  • 1 lemon preferably meyer
  • 2 handfuls of dill finely chopped
  • 1 large ripe avocado
  • 2 handfuls of flat leaf parsley roughly torn
  • Sea salt
  • Pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil EVOO
Instructions
Preparing the Barley Rusk and Haricot Bean Salad
  1. Place the dried beans in a bowl, cover them with 2 cups of water and allow them to soak for at least 4 hours
  2. Drain the beans and add them to a small pot with 4 cups of fresh water and gently boil for about 1 hour, or until tender
  3. Once cooked, drain the beans and set them aside to cool
  4. Place the rusks on a baking tray; bake them in an oven pre-heated to 180°C until golden brown (about 15 minutes); set them aside
  5. Slice the tomatoes in half and grate the tomato flesh in a large serving bowl (keeping the seeds)
  6. Squeeze in the juice of one a lemon
  7. Season with sea salt and a few good grinds of pepper
  8. Add a generous amount of EVOO
  9. Add the dill
  10. Using a small spoon, scoop out the flesh of the avocado in small chunks and add these to the serving bowl
  11. Add the cooled beans and the parsley
  12. Cut the rusks into large pieces, place them in the serving bowl with the other ingredients and mix them, ensuring the rusks are well coated with the tomato mixture
  13. Taste for olive, lemon juice, salt and pepper and add more as required
  14. Plate up the salad and garnish with a little parsley and another drizzle of EVOO
Serving the Haricot Bean and Barley Rusk Salad
  1. Serve and enjoy!
  2. Serves 4-6

Recipe Video

Key Points
  • Fresh, ripe, summer tomatoes are best for this preparation, but you can use store bought tomatoes too. Purchase tomatoes with a deep red hue and do not refrigerate them (ever!!!!). If they are not ready to use immediately, allow them to sit out for a few days to ripen
  • Fear not, the barley rusks will absorb all the tomato and lemon juices
  • You can replace the haricot beans with larger, dried cannellini beans or if you are really pressed for time, you can always use canned beans that have been rinsed thoroughly!