Whether it is the canned version your granny used to buy, the bougie farmer’s market find, or your typical supermarket green beans that are sitting in a large pile next to the loose Brussels sprouts at the bottom rung of the vegetable aisle, to me, green beans are the chosen veggie for those picky guests. It seems to me that everyone loves green beans.
Green beans are an excellent choice to add to salads, especially when blanched in boiling water for 1 ½ minutes and then shocked in an ice bath. This retains the crunch and also provides a vibrant, green color.
This salad was inspired by my craving for that creamy crunch found in Caesar’s salad and the protein-rich boiled eggs and tuna found in a Niçoise—except I didn’t want either, so I created a salad that satisfies some of their respective components. The addition of an Italian delicacy called bottarga is grated over the plated salad, offering a briny, seafood flavor that complements the eggs and the white sauce dressing.
Bottarga is often imported from Italy and is the roe sac found in gray mullet fish. Because it is a laborious process to dry and cure bottarga, this food item is costly, ranging somewhere upward of $20. Bottarga can be enjoyed in many ways, including by grating a hefty portion straight onto cheesy pasta dishes and softly scrambled eggs. If bottarga is not your cup of tea, try substituting grated parmesan over this salad instead.
Green Beans with Baby Gem, Medium-Boiled Eggs, & Grated Bottarga
Serves 4
Ingredients for the salad:
1 lb green beans, trimmed, blanched & shocked, cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
4 heads of baby gem lettuce, cut into bite sized pieces, washed & spin-dried
4 medium eggs, boiled and halved
Croutons, desired amount
White sauce dressing, desired amount
2-inch chunk bottarga, grated generously
Ingredients for the croutons:
4 slices of sourdough bread, pulled apart by hand into bite-sized pieces
Extra virgin olive oil, generous drizzle
Salt & pepper, to taste
Dried Italian seasoning, to taste
Instructions for the croutons:
Set broiler to high heat.
Spread torn pieces of bread evenly onto a sheet tray.
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the torn pieces of bread. Sprinkle the bread with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, to taste.
Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, in 30- and 45-second increments. Set aside.
Ingredients for the white sauce:
⅓ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup sour cream
½ tsp hot mustard (such as Colman’s mustard)
2 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
¼ tsp garlic salt
Instructions for the white sauce:
In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, grated garlic, rice wine vinegar, and garlic salt. Set aside.
Assembly:
Combine baby gem lettuce and green beans in a bowl, toss until combined. Add desired amount of greens to serving plates. Top with halved eggs and croutons. Pour a desired amount of white sauce over the salads. Grate bottarga generously over each salad.
Enjoy!