Butterbean and Fresh Tomato Salad

We had such a beautifully gorgeous day here yesterday. The sun shone all day long into the night and the temperature was wonderfully warm. I even shaved my legs in preparation for summer. (I know . . .TMI!)



Seriously though, it was fabulous. After the long, cold and hard winter that we have just had in the UK, it was so wonderful to be able to finally bask in some warmth and sunshine.

Ahhh . . . England in the springtime. There is no more beautiful place on earth, with the birds singing and mowers mowing . . . and the smell of barbeques wafting through the air. Don't you just love that smell . . .




Hmmm . . . that reminds me. We got rid of our old barbeque when we moved up here as it was too old and decrepit to move and we have not replaced it yet. Time for me to kick the old grump into action and get him to open his purse for a new one! (Barbeque that is.)




Anyways, I digress. It was the perfect day yesterday for a lovely summery type of salad. I had some courgettes that I needed to use up and the tomatoes in the tomato bowl needed using up as well. (Tip here . . . always keep your tomatoes out of the fridge in a bowl on the counter top. They ripen up really nicely after a couple of days and taste soooooo much better!) With a bit of a clearout in the fridge and a tin of butterbeans, I ended up with a delicious salad that was not only filling, but also quite healthy!! Buttered toast went very well with it, but a good and hearty crusty loaf would have been fabulous!

You know . . . to mop up all those lovely salad juices. It went down a real treat nonetheless!



*Butterbean and Fresh Tomato Salad*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

Healthy food for a change . . . although I did serve it with well buttered toast!

420g (14 ounce) tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
500g (1 pound 2 ounce) cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 small green courgettes (if you have yellow they make a great colour contrast
and work fine as well, or use a mixture of both!)
4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
a large handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 TBS olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Tip all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together well. Cover and leave at room temperature until ready to serve. You can make this the day before and it will taste even better. Just be sure to bring it to room temperature and give it a good stir before serving.