Chorizo & Broad Bean Salad

This is a side dish for us, though it would doubtless make up a very nice small plate. The boy loves the idea of salads with copious amounts of meat. I love using up everything that comes in the Organic Box.

250g peas

250g broad beans

150g good Chorizo

A squeeze of lemon

Salt & Pepper

5 Mint leaves

I’m letting the boy choose the chorizo. Normally I’d go for a hot ‘picante’ version but I want the peas and beans to shine through. The boy chooses a pure pork one with walnuts in it.

Bring a pan to the boil and cook the peas and beans for a minute or two. It’s a bit late in the season for broad beans so we are podding them, once cooked, or rather the boy is. The peas are fresh and to our surprise, the boy's cat likes chewing on the odd discarded pea pod! Bach’s Mass in B Minor is on the CD Player quite loud, and the kitchen door is open onto the patio to let some cool air in.

Fry the  chorizo in a deep frying pan. I’m adding just a tiny splash of olive oil to get it going, though it will soon leach out its own lovely golden-orange oils. Once it’s verging on crispness, add the peas and beans and mix well. Give it a good grind of salt and pepper and squeeze over the lemon juice. We use about half a lemon as we tend to like our vinaigrettes quite sharp.

The boy has picked out the mint leaves from the pot on the patio – it has spread and is now actually pushing up through the cracks between the paving stones. Snip the mint in and give it another good mix. Get the boy to taste and adjust the seasoning or add more lemon as he sees fit. Serve barely warm. The time it takes to get down to room temperature will give everything time to make acquaintances.

The other ‘small plate’ we are having with this is a baby new potato salad in olive oil mayonnaise, with shreds of fennel-salami, chives and spring onion folded through it. I’ll post the recipe soon.