Grilled Veggie Salad with White Beans

A healthy new spin on the classic “bean salad,” Grilled Veggie Salad with White Beans combines prized heirloom flageolet beans (or other white beans) with grilled summer vegetables, capers, and a tangy anchovy and dijon Provençal-style vinaigrette. This veggie bean salad is sure to liven up your summer menu!

👩🏻‍🍳 Tamara Talks – What are Flageolet Beans?

Have you even heard of flageolet beans? In the US, they’re fairly obscure and difficult to find, making them a perfect “target” for this food blogger! You know I have a penchant for playing with unusual ingredients? In addition to bringing you a delicious new veggie bean salad recipe, I plan to tell you everything you need to know about flageolet beans (and some you don’t need to know  😉 )…

Flageolet beans – aka “caviar beans” – are tiny, tender, robust beans that originated in France. This French bush type bean has an inedible pod with small kidney shaped beans. The beans (seeds) may range in color from white to yellow to black. The most prized, however, are the flageolet vert or green flageolet.

The beans can occasionally be found fresh in summer, and if you are lucky enough to find them fresh, they may remind you of fresh limas. They can be fresh-frozen and treated like peas. Most commonly, though, you will find them dried.

Flageolet beans pair really well with lamb, and they’re awesome in cassoulet. You’ll find they work well in any recipe specifying white beans (navy, cannelini, great northern). You’ll find white beans in my Instant Pot Cannelini Beans with Penne, Baby Kale, and Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Tuscan Fish with Cannelini Beans, Tomatoes, and Spinach, and Make-Ahead Pressure Cooker Cassoulet. Try flageolet beans in any (or all  🙂 ) of them!

Keep in mind that if you cannot get the flageolets, any white bean is an excellent substitution. This recipe works well with cannelini, navy, baby lima beans, etc.

Beans and Grilled Vegetables

• cooked white beans – As I mentioned above, I created this grilled veggie salad with white beans specifically for heirloom flageolet beans . Feel free to substitute any cooked white bean – cannelini, navy, great northern, limas.
• eggplant
• zucchini or yellow squash
• tiny tomatoes
• sweet or red onion
• red, orange, or yellow bell pepper
• capers

Provençal Vinaigrette

• lemon – You’ll need both the zest and the juice.
• vinegar – I like white wine vinegar for this vinaigrette, but you can substitute champagne, rice, sherry, etc.
• extra virgin olive oil
• garlic – I especially love roasted garlic for this
• anchovies – This is ingredient is optional (in case you despise anchovies or follow a vegan diet). However, anchovies are a key Provençal ingredient. I use 1 anchovy filet or 1 1/2 teaspoons of the paste. The anchovy paste isn’t just anchovy, so it requires a bit more.
• mustard – Dijon mustard is my “go to” mustard for this vinaigrette, but a brown or stoneground mustard is fine.
• sugar – I’m a fan of turbinado sugar, but white or brown is fine.
• fresh herbs – Think “parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.” Chives are good as well.

1. Prepare the flageolet beans (or other white beans) by your preferred method, or use well-rinsed canned beans.
2. Grill the vegetables – Add the eggplant, zucchini or yellow squash, tomatoes, and onion to a grill basket. Grill over medium high until tender with nice grill marks.
3. Prepare the bell pepper – Char the red bell pepper (unless you’re using one from a jar). Remove the charred skin, stem, and seeds, then slice.
4. Prepare the vinaigrette – Add all dressing ingredients to a small blender or processor. Blend well. Taste for seasoning. (This is SO IMPORTANT!).
5. Assemble the salad – Add all bean salad ingredients to a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add the vinaigrette as per your preference. Garnish with lemon slices and additional herbs as desired.

Cooking the flageolet (or other) beans – I highly recommend using your pressure cooker/Instant Pot. I don’t pre-soak. The “jury” is out on this, but I’m ALWAYS happy with the results. I cook the entire bag of whatever beans I’m cooking because I LOVE having them in the refrigerator or freezer for later use. They beat canned beans hands down. Flageolet beans require about 25 minutes under pressure, and 10 minutes to de-pressurize. Keep in mind, the Instant Pot/pressure cooker will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure, making it a total of 45 minutes+/-.

Cook larger quantities of beans, and freeze some for future use. Cooked dried beans are superior to canned in both taste and texture.

🍷 Pairing Suggestions

This hearty, healthy summer salad is a light meal on its own with crusty bread. Pair it with this Grilled Lemon Garlic Shrimp or this Cornell chicken. We love it with simple grilled fish after a successful fishing trip at the Laguna Madre in south Texas!

At Andersen casa, we’re always looking for fresh, healthy dishes… In the summer, we avoid over-heating the kitchen. This grilled vegetable and white bean salad is a favorite. I hope you’ll give it a try!

Grilled Veggie Salad with White Beans

Tamara Andersen

Seasonal summer grilled veggies with white beans in a Provençal-inspired vinaigrette.

4.75 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Additional Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Salads

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 6 servings +/-

Calories 228 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Beans and Grilled Vegetables (Salad Ingredients)

• 3-4 cups cooked flageolet or other white beans - (see notes)
• 2 cups cubed eggplant - (see notes)
• 2 cups zucchini or yellow squash - halved lengthwise and cut in 3/4″ slices
• 1 cup tiny tomatoes
• 1 medium sweet or red onion - cut in wedges
• 1 red bell pepper - charred, peeled, stem and seeds removed, cut in strips
• 3 tablespoons capers
• sea salt/fresh ground pepper

Anchovy-Dijon Vinaigrette

• 1 lemon - juice and zest
• white wine vinegar - enough to bring lemon juice to 1/4 cup
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic - I especially love roasted garlic for this
• 1-2 anchovies - optional, see notes, or a squeeze of anchovy paste (see notes)
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon raw sugar
• ¼ cup fresh herbs - thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil, chives
• sea salt/fresh ground pepper - season to taste

Instructions

• Prepare the beans if they’re not yet prepared.
• Add the eggplant, zucchini or yellow squash, tomatoes, and onion to a grill basket. Grill over medium high until tender with nice grill marks.
• Char the red bell pepper (unless you’re using one from a jar). Remove the charred skin, stem, and seeds, then slice.
• Add all dressing ingredients to a small blender or processor. Blend vinaigrette well. Taste for seasoning. (This is SO IMPORTANT!).
• Add all bean salad ingredients to a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add the vinaigrette as per your preference. Garnish with lemon slices and additional herbs as desired.

Notes

Beans can be soaked overnight and cooked on the stove, but my preferred method is with my pressure cooker as they’re done start to finish with no pre-soak in about an hour. As I mention in the post, I usually just do the entire bag, and freeze what I don’t need. These instructions from Bob’s Red Mill include both methods.

If you can’t find flageolet beans, substitute navy or cannelini. I stress the superior texture of using cooked dried beans over canned, but you can substitute canned in a pinch. It’ll still be a good dish.

Eggplant comes in many varieties. If I use a large globe shaped eggplant (typically found at most groceries), I cube it, salt it generously, and leave the eggplant in a colander to "sweat" for 30-45 minutes. Then I rinse thoroughly. I find this process reduces some of the weird mouth feel of some eggplant varieties. On the other hand, if I’ve been to the farmers market, and have some lovely small eggplants, I skip that process! 

I prefer to char my own red bell pepper, but I have been known to sub a pepper from a jar. I like piquillo pepper as they seem to hold their shape better.

When I make a vinaigrette, I typically go for a 1:3 ratio of acidity (lemon juice, lime juice, good vinegar, etc.) to good oil (olive, nut oil, truffle or other artisan oil). I do taste and add (can’t subtract 😀 ). For this vinaigrette, I like a combination of lemon juice and white wine vinegar. I squeeze the lemon into a measuring cup, and then add the vinegar to bring it to 1/4 cup. We don’t dress salads heavily, so I store remaining dressing in a mason jar in the refrigerator.

It is the anchovy, lemon, caper, herb combination that gives this dish its characteristic Provençal flavors. If you just can’t handle anchovy, omit it, but don’t tell me. 😉 Note: Anchovy is not vegan, so omit it if you’re following a vegan diet.

I serve this atop baby greens, but that is definitely optional!

Macronutrients (approximation from MyFitnessPal.com): 228 calories; 6 g protein; 15 g fat; 17 g carbohydrates. Macros based on serving as a side dish for 6 using half of the vinaigrette.

Nutrition

Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 15g

NOTE: Macronutrients are an approximation only using unbranded ingredients and MyFitnessPal.com. Please do your own research with the products you’re using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and/or star rating! Email us with any questions: tamara@beyondmeresustenance.com

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