This recipe for Gigantes Greek Bean Salad started with a search for some unusual ingredients that I was unable to locate early on during the 3-month shutdown in Los Angeles.
On the hunt for specialty ingredients.
I took a trip to Eataly LA, last week in search of some hard-to-find ingredients. Eataly is an amazing food extravaganza located in the middle of Los Angeles. They have an amazing selection of specialty foods from Italy– every shape and size of pasta, 20 types of risotto, 10 types of sun-dried tomatoes and other unusual products not readily available elsewhere. I picked up some some unusually-shaped pastas, a box of risotto and then grabbed a large bag of gigantes beans.
What am I going to do with these Gigantes Beans?
I wasn’t sure what I would to do with the gigantes beans, but went to work on coming up with a recipe. I received a comment after posting an image of the gigantes beans on Instagram from a friend who mentioned that she was obsessed with a gigantes bean salad from Erewhon, so I checked that out. Then I came across a simple recipe from Food52 for marinated beans which I used as the basis for this recipe with some adjustments. I added chunks of avocado and wild arugula and ended up with a delicious vegan salad that was both filling and satisfying.
ps: these beans can also be served as an appetizer alongside some cheese, olives, a baguette and maybe one of my an Old Cuban Cocktails.
Gigantes Greek Bean Salad
- Total Time: 26 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Delicious Gigantes Bean Salad with Mixed Herbs
Ingredients
SALAD
- 2 cups dried gigantes beans
- water
- salt
- 3 cups of arugula
- 1 ripe avocado
VINAIGRETTE
- 1 large shallot finely minced
- 2 tablespoons of fresh tarragon
- 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dried)
- 2 tablespoon of fresh parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- Juice from 1/2 – 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons of vinegar (white or red wine)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Prepare the beans:
- Put beans into a large bowl with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and soak overnight.
- Drain beans, put into a large soup pot then fill with water 2 inches above the beans.
- Cook on high heat until boiling, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for approximately 1-1/2 hours or until the beans are tender but not mushy.
- Drain beans and let cool.
Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette:
- Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Put it all together:
- Toss the gigantes beans with 1/2 of the vinaigrette.
- Place arugula, sliced avocado and beans into a salad bowl and toss with additional vinaigrette. You many not need all of it so add incrementally.
Notes
Serve this salad with some delicious crusty bread. That’s all you will need.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Healthy
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