Haricot Verts and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Haricot Verts......... just a fancy French name for the slender green beans that are available in many markets now days.........and with a name like The Café Sucré Farine I just couldn't call this lovely salad Skinny Green Bean and Pea Pod Salad, could I?.......
Whatever you decide to call this yummy salad, you definitely want to try it. It's the perfect side served warm with grilled chicken, pork or steak, like the Café's Grilled Chicken Kabobs, or this delicious Grilled Asian Pork Tenderloin with Peanut Sauce or maybe this Grilled London Broil with a Sweet and Smokey TomatoSalsa (with a secret technique!).  It is also delicious served at room temperature as a side to a sandwich or wrap or served for lunch with a combo of other salads like this Best Ever Chicken Salad or this Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad.

I love the fact that the veggies are  only ever-so-slightly blanched so they keep most of their crunch and nutritional value. The dressing is simple, light and flavorful with olive oil, garlic, orange zest and a touch of Sriracha* sauce. If you've been looking for a unique, fun, simple, beautiful side salad, look no further, just practice your French and ask your grocer for some Haricot Verts (pronounced, ah-ree-koh VEHR.......... check it out here).  Have fun and expect some oohs and aahs!

Haricot Vert and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Ingredients
4 ounces hazel nuts
1 pound slender French green beans
½ pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and sliced diagonally in half
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh chives
1 orange
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Sriracha*
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300˚F. Toast hazelnuts in a small pan for about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and place nuts on a clean kitchen towel. Rub nuts with towel to remove most of the brown skins. Roughly chop with a large sharp knife, not too small, leaving some nuts whole.

2. Fill a large pot with water for the beans and pea pods. The more space you give them, the more they retain their vivid green coloring. Bring the water to the boil. While the water is heating, prepare a ice bath; fill a large bowl of water half full with cold water. Add several large cups of ice to the water and set aside. Once the water boils, add the haricot verts and cook for 4 minutes, add the pea pods and cook for another minute.

3. Drain vegetables in a colander and add to the ice bath. Once they have cooled down, drain again and lay out on several thicknesses of paper towels todrain further and dry off a bit.

4. Place beans and pea pods in a large salad bowl.

5. Wash the orange and peel away the zest in strips, minimizing the amount of white pith you take with it. Slice the strips as finely as possible.

6. Add the hazelnuts, orange zest, chives and sea salt. Add a generous grind of black pepper  and toss until all mixed up. Add the sesame (or walnut, hazelnut, pecan or any other nut oil you might have) Sriracha and olive oil and toss to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Adapted from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook

*If you're a Café follower and you haven't noticed, I love Sriracha sauce! It's sweet, garlicky and spicy adding a bit of pizazz to many dishes, not hot-hot (we're sort of puppies when it comes to hot spicy foods) if you add just a bit. You can find Sriracha at most larger U.S. grocery stores.

PRINTABLE RECIPE