bean, tomato, sweet pepper and corn salad / insalata di fagioli, pomodori, peperoni dolci e mais

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bright colors and flavors on the plate
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd¹. The novel is set in South Carolina in 1964. Young Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped by her mother's death and a violent father, and stand-in mother Rosaleen run away from their home and hometown and find refuge in the house of the three Boatwright sisters in Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that is somehow connected to Lily's mother's past. Lily learns about bees, beekeeping, making honey (miele) and about life in an environment that is nurturing — with a dose of eccentricity.

I can see how the novel became a bestseller (and a movie): individual lives play out in a small corner of the American south against the backdrop of the civil rights' movement. Rosaleen gets assaulted at the beginning of the novel for wanting to register to vote, following the passing of the Civil Rights Act. It's a bit slow-moving at times, like poured honey.

The view from Tiburon towards the Golden Gate Bridge

While Tiburon, SC, is fictional, Tiburon, CA², is a lovely town on the San Francisco Bay (tiburón means "shark" in Spanish). I ride my bicycle through the town fairly often. The view from the bay front is spectacular. On a day without fog you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. When there is fog you can get a portion of it, like in the photo above, or you see nothing at all. From Tiburon, you can take the ferry (traghetto) to Angel Island. The U.S. Immigration Station, in operation between 1910 and 1940, was on the island, which is now a State Park³.

Given the novel's setting, I should have been inspired to prepare something with honey, but instead I went with the color yellow and chose sweet corn. Freshly harvested Coco Nero beans in their pod at the farmers' market⁴ plus seasonal delights like tomatoes and sweet peppers pointed towards a nice salad and that's what I prepared.

vegetable composition with Coco nero beans
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The salad requires some planning as the beans, sweet peppers and sweet corn must be cooked beforehand. The recipe can be easily doubled.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Bean, tomato, sweet pepper and corn salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound / 225 grams Coco Nero beans in the pod, about 4 ounces / 113 g shelled
• 1 cup / 240 ml water
• 1/4 small onion, halved
• 1 small garlic clove, peeled
• 1/2 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 ounces / 85 grams roasted sweet peppers or bell peppers (recipe below)
• 3 ounces / 85 grams roasted sweet corn (recipe below)
• 4 ounces / 113 grams tomatoes, slicing or small heirlooms
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Notes: For efficiency's sake, I suggest shelling more beans and freeze what you don't need for future use. Same for sweet peppers and sweet corn: you can use them right away in other dishes or freeze them for future use. Beans sold still in the pod require less water and less cooking time than dry beans.

I recommend roasting

• at least 2 fresh ears of corn, still in their husks and with silks attached (otherwise wrap them in foil before roasting)

• at least 1/2 pound / 8 ounces / 225 grams sweet peppers (choose a meaty variety)

Cook the beans
Place the beans in a saucepan with the water, onion, garlic, bay leaf and salt. Bring the water to a lively boil, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are tender. Taste them after 20 minutes and estimate if/how much longer they should cook. Check the beans at regular intervals and add some hot water, if needed to keep all the beans moist.

Let the beans cool in their cooking broth (pan uncovered), then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their broth until ready to use.

Roast the corn
Heat the oven to 450 F / 230 C.

Place the corn on a baking sheet leaving a bit of space between the ears and roast for 20 minutes. Let the ears cool briefly, then remove the husks and silks.

Working in a shallow bowl or dish, stand the corn vertically and use a knife to cut the kernels and scrapings from the cob. (Save the empty cobs to make stock or broth.) Weigh the necessary amount, toss with a fork to separate the kernels, and set aside.

Roast the peppers
Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or aluminum foil. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 90 or 180 degrees, depending on their width.

Roast for 15 more minutes, then turn the peppers. Repeat after 10 minutes. Continue roasting until they are ready, i.e., when the skin has turned dark and is detaching in places. (The time depends on the type and size of peppers.)

Put the peppers in a sealed container or paper bag to steam, then peel off skin, discard stem and seeds, and the liquid they release. Weigh the necessary amount, dice and set aside.

Assemble the salad
Drain the beans and place them in a small salad bowl. (Set aside the cooking liquid for use in a soup or stew.)

Add the sweet peppers and corn to the beans. Chop the tomatoes and add to the bowl.

Scoop the avocado flesh into a ramekin and mash well with the lemon or lime juice. Spoon over the salad and toss.

Add the minced shallot and fresh parsley and toss briefly. Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper on the salad and toss one last time. 

Refrigerate the salad an hour or so, then take it out of the refrigerator ahead of serving it so it is not too cold. The salad is best consumed the day it is assembled.

Store any leftover salad in the refrigerator and consume within a day.

Serves 2

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¹ The book page on the author's website.
² Wikipedia: Tiburon, CA
³ Angel Island State Park. To learn more about the immigration station and the people who were detained and processed there, visit the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation website, which includes virtual exhibits.
⁴ Thanks to Star Route Farms farm in Bolinas for growing special produce including the Coco Nero beans

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di fagioli, pomodori, peperoni dolci e mais

or launch the insalata di fagioli, pomodori, peperoni dolci e mais audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

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beans, corn, swet pepper, tomatoes, salad

Comments

[Claudia]

A beautiful and I'm sure very flavorful salad as well Simona. I love the colors. Hopefully all is well with you.

[Wendy Klik]

What a gorgeous salad and what a wonderful place to live.

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Claudia. All's well here :)

Thank you Wendy. Tiburon is a beautiful place, charming even when it's not sunny :)

[Marg @ The Intrepid Reader]

Everything looks so fresh! And thanks for taking us through Tiburon!

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Marg, and you're welcome :)