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Fasulye salatası is a classic Turkish cannellini bean salad that is often enjoyed as a refreshing meze, side dish or light lunch. Pronounced 'fah-sool-yeh sah-lah-tah-suh', the generous use of extra virgin olive oil adds earthy flavours that perfectly balance the creamy cannellini beans. The lemon juice in the dressing gives a zesty kick that along with the fresh chopped parsley lift the dish and provide vibrant Mediterranean flavours.
The key to preparing fasulye salatası is using a high quality extra virgin olive oil. We use Cypriot extra virgin olive oil as it has a deep peppery finish that balances the other flavours better, but you can use other types if you prefer. The salad is great served with grilled meat or freshly fried patates köftesi, along with spring onions, olives and Turkish bread on the side. Also, serving the salad chilled is ideal for hot summer months.
Tinned pre-cooked cannellini beans are used in this recipe to make it quick and easy to prepare, but you can freshly boil dried cannellini beans if you have time (the flavour from freshly boiled beans will always be better). 500g dried cannellini beans cooked according to the pack instructions will make approximately the same amount as the tinned beans listed in the ingredients below. Using a pressure cooker makes the dried beans quicker to boil.
If you use tinned pre-cooked beans, you can place them in the fridge in advance of preparation if you want to serve the salad chilled. However, if you are making fasulye salatası in the winter, the beans can be warmed. Instructions for both have been provided in the method section below.
The dressing ingredients are meant to serve as a guide. You can adjust the quantities of lemon juice, olive oil and salt depending on your preference.
Serves 4 to 6 as a side | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Additional time needed to chill the beans, if desired
Ingredients
Beans | |
4x 400g (240g net weight) tins of pre-cooked cannellini beans in water | 40g parsley, chopped |
Dressing | |
150-200ml extra virigin olive oil, or as desired | |
100-150ml lemon juice, or as desired | 1 tsp salt, or as desired |
Hob heat scale
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Method
Wash the beans well to remove the tinned juices and strain.
If you are serving this salad in the winter months, you can heat the beans by adding them to a saucepan with enough hot water to cover and placing on a medium heat for a few minutes. In the summer months, you can serve the beans chilled from the fridge rather than at room temperature.
Add the beans to a large bowl or oven tray. In a small bowl, mix the salt, olive oil and lemon juice to create a dressing, with the quantities of each ingredient adjusted to your preference. Pour the dressing over the beans and mix gently to evenly coat by lifting the beans and dressing over from the bottom with a spoon.
Serve the beans sprinkled with some freshly chopped parsley along with fresh bread, spring onions and mixed olives on the side. The salad goes great with grilled meat or patates köftesi.