I love this salad. Crunchy and satisfying, it is one that I often make for lunch. The eggs are pleasingly filling, while perky blanched greens and toasted pine nuts deliver on crunch. All you need is a fork and perhaps a wedge of good bread to mop up the last of

the dressing.

Method:

• Toast the pine nuts first by cooking them in a dry frying pan over a gentle heat until golden brown. Allow to cool.
• Bring a pan of water to the boil. Lower in the eggs and boil for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, scoop the eggs out of the pan and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice-cold water. Let them cool for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, trim away any woody ends from the asparagus and pinch off the top stalks from the beans. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then blanch the asparagus with the green beans for 2–3 minutes. Drain the vegetables while they are still crisp, then plunge them into ice-cold water to stop them cooking further.
• Drain again and pat dry with a clean tea towel.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard and vinegar along with enough olive oil to create a glossy, emulsified dressing.
• Using the flat of your knife, run the blade over the capers to roughly smoosh them. Add the capers and the chopped tarragon to the dressing bowl.
• Toss the asparagus and beans into the bowl, then add the toasted pine nuts. Transfer everything to a serving plate.
• When cool enough to handle, peel the boiled eggs. Halve or quarter the eggs and arrange them over the salad. Finish with more chopped tarragon, if you like.
• To get ahead: every ingredient in this salad benefits from being cool, so you can blanch the asparagus and beans ahead of time and keep in the fridge. Toss everything with the dressing just before serving.
• The dressing can be made ahead of time – there is no need to refrigerate it.

Recipe extracted from: Cooking Made Simple: Foolproof Recipes for Busy People (Ebury)