Potato, Green Bean and Preserved Lemon Salad

When the weather is, at best, very cold and crisp, and at worst, downright gloomy, it’s time to gather friends and hunker down for a long, lazy and, above all, sturdy Sunday lunch, washed down with plenty of Spanish red wine. This is a robust side dish that goes brilliantly with roast chicken, but is interesting enough to serve as a vegetarian main. It nicely straddles winter-to-spring dishes and takes almost no effort to make, which is just what’s needed for large-scale entertaining. Preserved lemons are easy to make at home but they take about a month, so pop into any of the Moroccan butchers in the Born or the Raval and buy a few to store in the fridge. They keep indefinitely.

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 kg potatoes, scrubbed in their skins
• 500 g green beans, washed and trimmed
• ¾ preserved lemon, flesh discarded, peel rinsed

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE

• 3 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 15 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

METHOD

1. To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the mustard with the vinegar, then slowly add in the olive oil, continuously whisking to form a thick emulsion the consistency of mayonnaise.
2. Season well and set aside (this will make more than you need, but it’s always handy to have in the fridge).
3. Cut the preserved lemon peel into very thin slivers (so you can see the back of the knife through them).
4. Put 4-5 tablespoons of vinaigrette together with the preserved lemon slivers in the bottom of a large shallow bowl.
5. Cook the potatoes and beans until tender, drain well.
6. Slice the potatoes into one centimeter rounds, leave the beans whole.
7. Gently toss the still-warm vegetables through the vinaigrette and preserved lemon (I find it easiest to do this with my hands).
8. Serve at room temperature. It goes well with roast chicken, fish, a bowl of soup or a few generous spoonfuls of a ripe Torta del Casar (sheep's cheese from Extremadura).

Tara Stevens is a food writer and cook who splits her time between Barcelona and her cooking school, the Courtyard Kitchen, in the Fez Medina. Passionate about Spanish and Moroccan cuisine, she takes traditional recipes and gives them a modern makeover using local and seasonal ingredients. Follow Tara on Instagram @courtyardkitchenfez and Twitter @taralstevens.