Feta, Walnut and fig salad

I fancied a salad, but something really tasty and filling, not light as a salad perhaps should be! This one has a tasty contrast of salty cheese, sweet figs, garlicky beans and tangy lemon dressing, with a bit of crunch from the walnuts. It's quite garlicky, so adjust the amounts of garlic used to fry the beans accordingly. The red sticks you see in the picture is beetroot, which came in the bagged salad I chose.


Feta, Walnut and Fig salad

Serves 4

Takes.. I can't remember :( but really not long. Half an hour should be perfectly fine.


300g of ready-packed salad, to ensure a nice variety of leaves.

4 figs

300g feta cheese

100g walnuts, crushed

200g green (french) beans

3 tsp minced garlic

Handful of chives, chopped

3 tbsp good quality olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Optional splash of balsamic vinegar to add a bit more sweetness


* Boil some water for the beans. While this is heating, prepare the other ingredients - cut the green beans in half, the figs into slices, the feta into bitesized cubes, the chives into small pieces and crush the walnuts in a plastic bag if they are not already in pieces.

* Once the water is boiling, cook the beans for about 4 minutes. While the beans are cooking, empty the salad into a large mixing bowl and add the feta, figs, chives and walnuts. You can also add the olive oil and lemon juice now, as it will all get mixed together shortly.

* Once the beans are cooked, drain them then add oil to the pan (make sure there's no water left!) and fry the beans with the minced garlic. Fry these for a good few minutes, until they look a bit wrinkly and nicely browned.

* Add the beans to the rest of the salad and toss vigourously to ensure thorough mixing. Whether you serve it right away with hot beans or cool it down for later is entirely up to you.

Serve with a slice of good bread, or just on it's own.