You felt that, right? The cool, soothing fingers of Autumn weather creeping into our days. I opened the bedroom window the other morning, bristled at the unexpected chilly breeze and closed it quickly. Yesterday, we all waited until the afternoon to see some sunshine poking through the clouds and rain. Rain can be soothing but if you make the mistake of venturing out of the house, rain means chaos and I’m not fond of chaos. And that’s not even counting the parts of NSW that are flooding and the flash floods in Sydney.
I was stuck in traffic one day. I was stressed and needing to buy a loaf of bread and I also needed a chair. A lightbulb came on over my head and I decided to ring my mother handsfree to see if she had any.
“MOTHER I’M DRIVING, DO YOU HAVE ANY BREAD AND A BENTWOOD CHAIR?” I yelled, for no particular reason except to convey the panic I was feeling.
“Bread? Chair? “she asked
“YESS!! BREAD! CHAIR-A BENTWOOD PLEASE!” my panic rising as the light changed to green.
“Errr no…” she said.
“OK THANKS BYYYEEE!” I said and hung up.
My mother is used to these phone calls and honestly bread or a chair really aren’t the weirdest thing I’ve rung up and asked her for. And sometimes I rope others into my panicked shenanigans. An example was Brasserie Bread bakery in Banksmeadow. I knew that they had these beautiful bentwood chairs and I needed one for photographs. Unable to locate one to buy I asked Sarah from Brasserie Bread where they bought them from. A conversation ensued and I thought that I’d just ask if it were at all possible to borrow a chair for less than 24 hours. I knew it was an odd request and thankfully she said that it was fine. And visiting them would kill two birds with one stone too as I was able to get some bread for the same photograph (one of their beautiful seeded epi breads – swoon!).
If you find that making a nice meal at the end of a busy or rainy Autumn day is a bit too much work then this is the recipe for you. You can do this with tinned beans or fresh beans – I used some Edible Gems borlotti beans I was sent that cooked up quickly and if you use tinned well then you’re about 5 minutes away from a balanced, delicious, healthy meal. The large red chillies with a hint of heat counter the creamy feta and the lightly crispy edged beans give the salad gravity while spring onions and garlic complete the dish. There are a multitude of flavours going on here and the recipe is based on the Ottolenghi salad which Hanna adapted on her lovely blog Scandelights. As soon as I saw her recipe I knew that I would make it with the feta and borlotti beans.
I know that I’m a really pushy sort, mainly of the recipe variety but I do urge anyone that has a vague interest in a healthy or vegetarian or vegetable based dish to try this. Or even someone that just wants a really quick but amazingly tasty dish for dinner. It is foolproof and worth making and even if you do use a tin of beans it will still reward you when you’ve battled the rain and thunderstorms to get home or you just need dinner in 5 minutes.
So tell me Dear Reader, what are you going to cook or eat this weekend? And do you ever call up your mum or dad with odd requests?
Borlotti Bean & Feta Salad
Adapted from Hanna from Scandelights, originally from Ottolenghi
- 300g-400g (10.6 ozs – 14.1 ozs) shelled & cooked or tinned borlotti beans (or quite honestly, any bean that you like)
- 2 tablespoons oil for frying
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 large red chilli, chopped
- 6 spring onions, chopped
- 50-75g (1.5 -2.6 ozs) feta (I used a chilli Persian style feta from High Valley Dairy in Mudgee)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Small handful of fresh mint (or fresh herbs of choice)
- Salt and pepper to taste
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80 Comments | Add your own
A fabulous salad! so pretty and full of good things. i love the presentation.
cheers,
Rosa
Yum! That looks like the perfect meal for fall (or spring). I think my mom is the only person who knows where everything in the garage is so I’m always calling her when I’m looking for something.
Why in the world does Canada not have fresh, shelled beans at our grocery stores. The smartest idea I’ve ever seen.
This looks fantastic too! Great for lunches.
xx
-A
Wow I’ve never seen these beans before
But i’d love to try ~ because I really like feta cheese in salads hehe
I’m really interested in seeing the photoshoot with the bentwood chair!
I’m always calling up for weird things… like ‘Dad…do you have a bread knife?’ or ‘Dad…black or red?’ hahaha and he doesn’t even know I was asking about a new dress I wanted to get
Not cooking this weekend probably going out with family and friends ~
Oooh love this recipe…I am trying to use more pulses in my cooking of late so this is perfect. This past week we learnt about some bad news a friend was dealing with so this weekend I think I am going to cook something sweet and cheerful to drop around to their place.
A very healthy veggie dish that I’m sure even Mr NQN’s family would approve of! Strange requests – no, I try not to freak my parents out whenever I can avoid it, but my sister has been known to ring and say, “I was chasing a peacock the other day, and…”
This salad has some of my very favourite flavours in it, lemon, sumac, mint, Persian feta, chilli – YUM! Love the fresh pack of Borlotti Beans, will have to look out for these.
delish!!!And that IS a nice chair
I am not cooking anything this weekend as we are away, but Mum is cooking me a roast on Sunday night.
It was worth all the trouble, the pics look moody and very nice and I like the salad too. Beans and feta are a natural
Sounds delicious! Have the fresh ingredients in my garden and the rest in the kitchen. Will make this for a yummy Saturday lunch
thank you Lorraine!
What a lovely salad, perfect for the cooling weather. I’ve been wanting to try thoseb beans for a while so nice to know how they went.
We have a long weekend this time, so if the rainy weather persists, maybe a yummy slow roast, and homemade pies, Yumm!
Yum I will defiantly be trying the recipe the flavours remind me of fat tough. You are lucky I have never seen the beans you used, so a can of beans it will have to be.
Sorry stupid iPad with it auto correct I meant fattoush
Vegetarian and gluten free- fantastic I’ll try this one! And what lovely colour! Cheers, S
Oh your images are just so gorgeous!!!
It was worth the panic to get the chair, it adds so much atmosphere to the image.
The dish looks rather delicious too, I love beans!
Yes, I have noticed the morning chill
What happened to summer?
I just went to the Ottolenghi cafe in London a few days ago its amazing!!! Beautiful salads and cakes and Im sure I will love this borlotti bean and feta salad just as much!
Loraine – I just love anything Ottolenghi touches, he’s amazing. And as someone with a mainly plant-based diet, thank you for this beautiful recipe. It looks to be just what’s needed when I fall in the door from work and need to feed the hoards instantly. Fortunately my kids (11&13) love beans of all kinds. I may even try it tonight when Scouts, maths coaching and ballet collide causing general chaos. And all the ingredients are already in the house, yay! Hopign to visit Ottolenghi’s Islington restaurant when I’m in the UK later this year – I’ll report back. Love your blog, thanks.
Beans are such an easy, quick meal and just soooo healthy, too. I have jar of marinated feta – a new product from local Adelaide Hills cheesemakers, Udder Delights, that will suit this dish perfectly!
Hi, what can you suggest i use if i cannot get fresh beans ?
Hi Kylie-you can also use tinned beans
You are funny! I borrowed a high chair from my local cafe the other day so you’re not that weird!
This sounds very basic but I’m seriously craving bbq sausages. I think that will be tomorrow’s lunch.
Sounds like you had a rough one lol but at least it all worked out in the end.. plus! you have made such a vibrant dish!! yummy!
I LOVE the High Vally Dairy fetta. I remember visiting many years ago…
What am I cooking during the weekend: have been busy and had not thought, BUT that salad will be one of the meals for sure
! Well, I have only ordinary feta and not Persian, but shall ‘make do’! Eat bean & other pulse dishes at least a couple of times a week all year thru’. Healthy, tasty, cheap and easy to prepare 
! And my pantry would put in a complaint session if I ran out of sumac! Asking for odd things: I guess, at times, starting off with ‘Don’t ask why, but . . .’! And really have to find out more about Ottolenghi: seems to be mentioned so oft lately.
Never use a feta in a salad, good idea.
This weekend we will be at the beach, so as usual, something into the grill for Saturday afternoon/night, and for Sunday a Peruvian dish “Aji de Gallina”
I just LOVE the look of that chair in the photographs. Beautiful.
It’s hopefully going to be cold enough for a weekend of roast veggies!
I have everything in my fridge/pantry to make this. Amazing!
That being said, I frequently made warm bean salads as quick and easy dinners. One of my favourites! Add a poached egg for more deliciousness.
chilli fetta! niceeee
What a great salad. So vibrant, fresh, healthy and colourful. I think the fetta in it would take it to another level. My mother is used to inane calls from me. I’m constantly bleating for something. I think the last request was for pinking shears (is that what they’re called – those scissors that cut in a zig-zag).
Yay! The photos look great
LOL my mum gets random phone calls from me too. I love how they just get use to it haha. The feta sounds amazing! What a fab vego dish
I am so laughing this moment! Have we met? Do we have a same genes? That’s exactly how I am: chaos sets me into panic, and when I panic I raise my voice to the point my family use to ask me: why do you scream? They don’t ask anymore, they know why…:)
NO, I don’t call my mother with any requests: there are about 10 000 kilometers between us, and distance usually makes it worse. And I don’t know what I am going to cook for weekend, I don’t know what I am going to cook tomorrow!
Yum, this looks delicious
definitely going to try it 
love all the recipes you’ve been posting lately. Gee I feel like some sourdough, thank goodness it’s saturday tomorrow – that’s what I’m cooking this weekend, what’s good at the markets 
Usually my requests are “BURGERS! PIE! NOW!”
That looks so delicious! And very colourful, I like it
Thank you so much for the tip to ‘Scandelights’! Looks like a wonderful blog, and since Estonia is cattycorner and my paternal grandmother Swedish – oh me, oh my!! Big smile!
Love the chair, it was worth the asking:) Gorgeous beans. I was sent a recipe for tuscan beans the other day from my mother-in-law. Someone is trying to tell me that I should eat more beans! Happy weekend xo
Simple, healthy, tasty – my favourite kind of food : )
You are so lucky to have your parents. I moved away to go to university and we didn’t see each other except on the odd holiday.
This salad looks really inviting. I love how you cooked the beans til slightly crispy.
Borrowing a chair from a bakery – odd. Did you buy or borrow the bread???:)
Yum, love all things Ottolenghi!
this looks so gorgeous. I’m in love with Autumn right now. I’m thinking it might be a Tom Cruise Carbonara Sunday night…no cream, just bacon, egg, cheese. best. and we’ll be going out for breakfast a bit, i think. Yay for long weekend!
Heidi xo
I call my parents all the time, but rarely do I give them the thrill of bizarre requests. Though today I called and asked mum to drive me to the doctors as I’m feeling too upset to drive myself.
I think I’ll need something nourishing like this tonight.
Love adding feta to any bean, grain or pasta salad. It really makes anything something special. Mmm, your spicy feta looks even more irresistible.
I am SO making this (sans the chair, but with the bread).
Gorgeous! Love the chair, well worth the effort
I am also making a salad this weekend, with tomatoes before they go out of season. I am feeling the urge for more vegetable based dishes too.
Wow, your food photography is really getting on par with the stuff of great cookbooks and magazines. Really great presentation. The recipe sounds so simple too. I’m going to keep my eye out for those fresh beans. It would be interesting to see the difference.
I am going to try sumac with our beans tonight! Hope the rain didn’t affect you
LOL, love the chair tale. The bean salad looks delicious!
never heard of those beans, the salad looks so fresh & colourful
We are having both my Mum and Dad, from the country; and my brother from WA visiting this weekend. I’ve been told I’m having a family BBQ at my house tomorrow night, so I guess we’ll be doing lots of meat and I’m hoping seafood, breads and salads. And I’m going to try this one out! Thanks for the recipe!
Love your salad Lorraine! Feta is one of my favorite on salad, and it’s interesting to find out there is chili feta! I’m not familiar with beans or their kinds. It was interesting read!
This meal is something I would make for sure. Thanks for the idea!
I adore all of Ottolenghi’s recipes and this dish looks absolutely delicious. Cooking your own beans from scratch rather than getting them in a tin is so much better too
As soon as I saw that seeded epi I wanted to know where you got it from. Of course Brasserie Bread! Wanting to add more vegetarian options to the diet, yes Lorraine, will be giving this one a go
I’m guilty of not being a weekly meal planner, I just cook what takes my fancy according to the contents of fridge or pantry. I do know that I’m going to bake some cupcakes for the granddaughters tomorrow though!
I’d love to try this but prefer to use that beautiful packet of fresh Borlotti beans, do you know where I can buy them Lorraine ?
Lovely presentation and the vivid colours of the salad are soooo inviting and how cute are those rolls. Lucky for me I don’t live close to Brasserie Bakery , I’d end up the size of a house lol
So fun that you tried it too! Love that dish!
Thank you for the link too. And I do agree, I can call my mother asking for weird stuff, or interrupting her dinner party to ask for a recipe. 
Looks delicious Lorraine. I like borlotti beans and just adore feta cheese.
This weekend I’ll be roasting duck. I cannot wait!
Have a great one.
Have a great weekend!
I’ve definitely called my Mom with weird requests. I once asked her to take extreme close-ups of everyone’s eyes at a family party she was hosting. (I needed eye photos for a project.) She’s used to that sort of request from me now. I love all the colors and flavors brought together in this salad! Looks like a winner of a dish.
I am not a fan of borlotti beans, but you just may have convinced. Also, I love Ottolenghi… My parents unfortunately live too far away for any strange requests…
Thanks for this! I’ve been looking for vegetarian bean recipes so this comes at just the right time!
I have worked in the art department in the film biz for 20 years… believe you me, nearly everyone I know has gotten a “do you have?” call at some point. My brain is like a virtual prop house of memories of things. Sometimes readily accessible, other times waaaay back in the bottom of the closet.
Your phone call to your mum was terribly familiar. Darn good looking salad too!!
First, great salad and certainly worth my doing my own version over the weekend (beans and feta? Yes please)! Second, I never ask my mom for anything unusual since even asking her for something normal makes her think I’m out of my gourd. Third, couscous. I badly need couscous so that is on the menu tomorrow.
What a fabulous bunch of flavors for a salad! This looks so delicious, Lorraine. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Have a nice weekend!
Cute story, as always. Your creativity in life in general is an inspiration.
I so love Yotam Ottolenghi that I ordered both of his books from the UK (long before they were available in the US), had them shipped to the States, then to Mexico. THAT’s how much I adore his recipes and approach to food. Great recipe, of course.
I am going to make fish tacos, blueberry muffins and green goddess salad this weekend. My son is coming to visit and I’m going to cook for him!
Have a great weekend sweetie…
xxoo,
RMW
I love Ottolenghi’s recipes and this adaption looks really delicious. Your pictures are fabulous, as usual. GG
A fantastic & inspiring colourful vibrant tasty salad!
Yummy!
A lovely story, as allways!
Have a great relaxing weekend,…without any RAIN!
Wow, you’ve made a really nice composition with the platter, bread and food. Nice photo!
Bean salads aren’t so common in my neck of the woods. But I might give yours a shot; it would make a perfect early-summer supper.
Ha! Loved reading about your anxiousness to get a brentwood chair. I am on a lookout for myself.
That’s one delicious bowl of salad. Pretty colors and delicious flavors
sounds like a great salad – and fit for the cooler weather – the rains have been terrible with all the chaos they have caused in the country areas but you have reminded me that we haven’t had enough over the last few days I had better water the garden!
Oh that looks much healthier than most of what I’ve eaten this weekend! I’m so not going there
Oh I so hope someone starts selling these beans in Canberra, your salad looks out of this world to me. Unfortunately, I live to far away from my family to request anything, bizarre or otherwise
This weekend? Maybe rendang. And I always ask weird questions anyway
Hi Lorraine,
I just want to say thank you for this recipe. I’ve just moved out of home and am going to have to learn how to cook. I decided to try this recipe as my first savoury dish as it seemed simple and there wasn’t any meat involved (baby steps). Although I normally hate beans, this was absolutely delicious! It was a great success and is now going to be my “bring a dish” bbq staple. Thank you!
Hi Alice-I’m so pleased that you made it and enjoyed it! I agree, it’s easy and delicious. Thanks so much for letting us know what you thought of it!
I love your stories! So hilarious.
You MUST visit London soon, you’d love Ottolenghi (and not just their salads, but their cakes too!).
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