Warm potato, radish and bean salad with olives and saffron mayo dressing

Salads

Warm potato, radish and bean salad with olives and saffron mayo dressing

Name: Warm potato, radish and bean salad with olives and saffron mayo dressing
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2

Serves 2 40 min

When new potatoes and radishes are in full swing, how better to celebrate than with this superlative salad. The herbs and capers create a salsa verde – a perfect match for the beans and eggs too. Just be careful with your seasoning, as the capers and olives both lend a saltiness to the finished dish. Cooling the eggs as fast as you can stops a black ring appearing between white and yolk. The yolk should be cooked, but slightly soft and not chalky in the middle. You could boil them for 3-4 minutes instead, then gently peel when hot, breaking the runny yolk over the warm salad just before serving.

Ingredients

2 tbsp capers
1 pinch saffron
500g new potatoes
2 eggs
1 bay leaf
100g radishes, quartered
125g French beans, halved
1 tbsp cider vinegar
small bunch of chervil
small bunch of parsley
1 tsp Dijon mustard
50ml mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
60g olives, halved

Method

Prep time: 10 min

Cooking time: 30 min

Step 1
Place the capers in a mug of cold water to soak. Mix the saffron with 1 tablespoon of hot water in a small bowl and leave it to steep.
Step 2
Give the potatoes a scrub. Cut small ones in half and larger ones into quarters. Fill a large pan with cold salted water. Add the potatoes, eggs and bay leaf. Bring to the boil. After exactly 6 minutes from the moment of boiling, remove the eggs. Pop in a bowl and cool quickly in cold running water. Once you have removed the eggs, keep the potatoes cooking until they are tender to a knife tip (a few more minutes), then drain them and leave to one side to steam dry and cool a little.
Step 3
Put a frying pan on to heat. Add the cider vinegar and 3 tablespoons water. Add the radishes and beans with a good pinch of salt. Cook on a high heat, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to nothing. They should be partly cooked but still have a slight bite to them. Remove from the heat and keep to one side.
Step 4
Drain the capers and coarsely chop them with the chervil and parsley leaves. Peel the eggs when cooled.
Step 5
To make the dressing, mix the mustard, mayonnaise and half the garlic with the saffron water. Mix well and season. Add more garlic to taste.
Step 6
Mix the warm potatoes with the radishes, any reserved good radish tops, beans, olives, herbs and capers. Divide between 2 plates and top each with a cut egg. Artfully spoon over the dressing.