Green bean salad with mustard vinegarette – healthy food is fast food!

I have had quite a few people ask me how I find the time to cook healthy food.

Sure, I work full-time, go to the gym three days a week, I’m planning a wedding (including lots of DIY stuff) and Matt and I spend the week travelling to his parents place, or to my family’s fruit, vegetable and gourmet food shop, Anglesea Fruitz. We love spending time with our families and I’m never happy unless I’m busy.

But, the idea that healthy food is somehow hard and time consuming is just simply untrue.

In fact, healthy food, as far as I am concerned, is fast food! How hard it is to spice up some chichen breast with garlic, lemon and salt and pepper and grill it quickly until it is tender and juicy. It’s perfect served over a Greek salad.

Or how about a nice steak over a green bean salad? I’m not opposed to carbs – but it’s potato and rice and pasta that can be time consuming. It’s also cakes and muffins etc that are also time hungry – you have to get all the ingredients, get the food processor, the mixer, bowls etc out, make it, bake it, then clean up. Now that’s hard work!

This green bean salad dish requires a chopping board, knife, pan, bowl, and spoon – that’s it. And, it takes about 15 minutes to whip up. Thinking it must be short on falvour? Most defintely not! This is one for all mustard lovers out there – and we all know that little condiment isn’t lacking in that department!

Green Bean Salad with Mustard Vinegarette

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
olive oil
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

400g green beans, trimmed

The juice of half a lemon (or to taste)

Method:

Cook your steak to your liking and set aside, wrapped in some foil, to rest.

Trim the beans and place into a microwave safe container with a few tablespoons of water. Zap on high for 4 minutes, or until tender.

While the beans cook, add the tomatoes to the pan you used to cook your steak. Cook them over a high heat, flesh slide down, until they are hot and have some colour, but still hold their shape. Remove them to your serving bowl.

In a small bowl, mix the mustard, a few glugs of olive oil, salt and pepper together and season to taste with the lemon.

Pop the cooked beans into the serving bowl, drizzle with the dressing and toss to coat.

Place the beans into a pile in the middle of a plate and top with rested steak. Drizzle juices over the top and serve.

Do you think cooking healthy takes longer than cooking something unhealthy, and if so, what makes you feel this way? I would argue you could whip this up in less time it would take you to jump in the car and go to your local KFC. It’s certainly quicker and cheaper than ordering take-away Indian or Chinese food – sometimes the wait on that stuff is ages … especially if you’re getting it some delivered.

The other thing I like about this dish is you don’t need 24 ingredients to pull it off. I love Jamie Oliver – but to accomplish his 30 Minutes Meals you’d need a trolley full of stuff – and there’s nothing light about serving up three-course meals every night. To his credit though – if you just make the main part of the feasts he suggests – many are quite healthy and quick too.

Simple really is best when it comes to healthy eating, and for people with busy lifestyles - you’ll save time too!