Why not add a healthy option to your  menu when going on a picnic? Roger Mooking makes a delicious salad that’s full of fresh flavours.

Green bean and blueberry picnic salad

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ tbsp. quinoa
• 3 tbsp hot water
• 2 cups green beans
• ½ cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• ¼ cup blueberries
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds

Method: 

Quinoa:
In a stainless steel or non-reactive bowl, pour 3 tbsp hot water over 1 1/2 tbsp quinoa. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until quinoa plumps up and all the water is absorbed, approximately 5 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and fluff quinoa with a fork to remove any clumps.

Green beans:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Prepare a bowl with ice water large enough to fully submerge all green beans.

Then trim ends of beans to remove top and place in boiling water until beans turn bright green, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.

Strain blanched green beans in a colander and discard hot water. Transfer blanched and drained green beans to ice water and cool fully, approximately 3 minutes. The strain beans and transfer to a tray to allow excess water to drain off of beans. Set aside.

Dijon dressing:
In a non-reactive bowl, whisk together Dijon mustard, dried thyme and olive oil until emulsified. Set aside.

Plating:
Toss together the green beans, quinoa, blueberries, sliced almonds and 3 tbsp of the Dijon mustard mixture.  Serve immediately.

Courtesy Roger Mooking
www.rogermooking.com
@rogermooking