This fresh, green salad has all the tastes of spring - crunchy greens and radishes, sweet broad beans and new potatoes
May is a wonderful time of new life and green growth. Blue tits are nesting in the old apple tree, clouds of cow parsley decorate the hedgerows, a bird box offers shelter to a tree bumblebee colony and fox cubs are gambolling about the gooseberry patch, much to the disgruntlement of our geese.
The warmer weather means it’s time for the sheep to be sheared, the bees to be checked for signs of swarming and the vegetable patch to rocket into production. Right now, it’s broad beans a gogo!
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the broad beans for a few minutes until tender. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. Add the potatoes to the pan of water and boil for 20 minutes or until cooked through, then drain and steam dry.
While the potatoes are cooking, pop any large broad beans out of their jackets while they are still warm, but leave the smaller beans intact. Then make the dressing by whisking the mustard, vinegar, sugar and sunflower oil together until emulsified.
To assemble the salad, put the potatoes on to a large serving dish in a single layer, cutting big spuds in half as you do so. Sprinkle over the mint leaves and beans, and tumble everything together. Then roughly dollop over the dressing with a spoon. Tuck the radish slices (skin-side up) among the potatoes and tear over the dill. Scatter the pea shoots and borage flowers over the top (if using), and finish with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.
The Seasonal Table
Kathy and Tom combine running their Somerset smallholding with full-time jobs, and also find time to write a blog called The Seasonal Table – a journal of slow food and slow living.
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