This is an easy salad to assemble. All it requires is opening some cans and a tiny bit of mincing and pulsing. The delicate issue is making sure that you get the balance of briny, sweet and acidic to your taste. Other than that, it is an intriguing salad because of the seaweed, which no one can ever identify.
I served this with tuna confit and used some of the cooking oil to make the seaweed oil. This dish would also be really good, I think, with cold poached salmon, or grilled swordfish. You will have some seaweed oil left which I think would work to stir fry shrimp or to add some saltiness to a sweet potato salad, as they tend to be a bit too sweet sometimes.
2 cans of cannellini beans, drained
2 Tbsps finely chopped preserved lemon
1/3 cup of your favorite herb (I used lemon balm because I am awash with it at present but tarragon would work well in this salad or even a combination of basil and oregano or thyme), roughly chopped
2 Tbsps capers
2 scallions or 1 shallot, finely chopped
1 sheet seaweed
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsps red wine vinegar
Salt
Turn a burner of your stove on to high. Holding it with kitchen tongs, run the sheet of seaweed over the flame, a couple of seconds on each side. Set aside.
Heat your oil until it sizzles around the edges. While it heats, tear the seaweed and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour over the oil and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the herbs and pulse roughly. If you do not own a stand mixer then a blender or immersion blender is fine, just make sure that you do not over process the dressing.
Tip the beans into a separate bowl. Add the preserved lemon, the capers, the chopped scallions and the vinegar. Toss well to combine.
Add half of the oil to the beans. Toss well. Taste and add salt to taste. Add more oil if you feel the salad is too acidic or not briny enough.
Inspiration recipe, here.