Two-Bean Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Bacon
13 Jun 2011 4 Comments
in Potato, salad, Uncategorized Tags: bacon, Potato salad, roasted potatoes, turkey burgers
One of the best things about being a food blogger is that friends keep sending me great recipes to try. This weekend, thanks to Jen, I tried out this Martha Stewart recipe. Ironically, Jen appeared to be unaware of my love affair with meat candy (a.k.a. bacon), almost apologizing for the “unhealthy” ingredient. I chuckled at that, then showed her my bacon tattoo 
Two-Bean Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Bacon. I couldn’t wait to try it. Fresh beans, roasted potatoes, AND bacon? That’s all the makings for a new Robarts family favorite! Two of my kids are absolutely nuts over raw beans, and gobbled up half of them before I even got started.
See?
“How did you get your kids to love beans?” you ask. Who really knows for sure, but I think it is because their earliest taste experiences with beans were straight out of my mother-in-law’s vegetable garden. There is nothing that beats the crunch and flavor of her vegetables. Whether it’s the abundant ocean air, the fertile Maine soil, or her patient gardening ways, you just can’t find that same flavor at Market Basket. Don’t even get me started on the delight of her home-grown pickles…
Anyhow, I made it almost exactly as Martha described, because, honestly, would YOU edit Martha Stewart, the most gifted Home Economics professor ever? I did love the combination of ingredients, and the flavor was good, but I think a couple of tweaks would make it really great. It needs more vinegar in the finish, especially if you are going to eliminate the capers as I did (we forgot to buy them at the store as we were concentrating quite hard on forgetting other critical items). Surprisingly, it needs a bit of salt, despite the use of bacon fat in the roasting. Finally, to cut down on prep time, and to decrease the likelihood that you’ll look like a monkey using silverware for the first time while eating it, I recommend cutting the potatoes into chunks rather than the potato-chip like slices Professor Stewart recommends. It just wasn’t fork-friendly.
The plan was to serve this with baked haddock. We discovered at T minus 15, however, that the fish had never made it home. Evidently, we put our order in with the fish guy at the market, but neither of us stuck around to pick up the package. Oops! That what happens when your goal is to get out of the supermarket as fast as possible. So, we served this up with seasoned turkey burgers instead. (1.3 # package of 93% lean ground turkey, sage, rosemary, scallions, salt and pepper; grilled in non-stick skillet a few minutes each side,then simmered with a little chicken broth to keep them moist).
A very filling meal!
This is the link to the original Martha Stewart recipe, for your reference.
Two-Bean Salad with Roasted Potatoes and Bacon
adapted from Martha Stewart.com
Serves 4-6
4 slices bacon
1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
6 oz wax beans, trimmed and halved
6 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
1 t. olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 T. red-wine vinegar
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds.
2) Cook bacon in skillet until crisp, then remove to paper towels to drain. Crumble bacon. Reserve drippings.
3) In a medium bowl, toss potatoes with bacon drippings (2-3 T.), and season with pepper and a small amount of salt.
4) Spread potatoes evenly on two cookie sheets. Roast until potatoes are browned on bottom, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.
5) While potatoes are cooking, toss beans with olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste
6) Remove potatoes from oven and stir well. Add bean mixture to pans, and return to oven for another 15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.
7) Transfer potato mixture to a large bowl. Toss with scallions, vinegar, and crumbled bacon.
8) Serve warm or at room temperature.
