Salade de Haricots Verts, Moroccan Haricot Vert Salad
This moroccan green bean salad recipe blanches crisp green beans and tosses them with tomato, red onion, garlic and a cumin-lemon dressing, finished with parsley and an optional scatter of pine nuts and raisins. One serving is about 214 g and carries 175 calories. It is the bright, crunchy salad that belongs on every Moroccan mezze table.
Moroccan cooking is famous for its salads — not the leafy bowls of the West, but small cooked-vegetable salads, served at room temperature as part of a mezze spread before the tagine. Green beans belong to that tradition: they are blanched until just tender, then dressed while still warm with olive oil, lemon, garlic and cumin, the spice that runs through almost every Moroccan salad. Paula Wolfert's classic book The Food of Morocco gives a version with fresh and preserved lemon, cumin and sweet paprika, and Moroccan cooks often scatter dried fruit and nuts over the top — the pine nuts and raisins in the photograph are that festive touch.
Pairs well with: Grilled fish or chicken, warm khobz bread and mint tea.
Provenance
Morocco
Moroccan Mezze Classic
Middle Eastern
Time Dedication
25m
20m prep • 5m cook
Batch Yield
4 Servings
175 kcal per serving
1 serving ≈ 214 g
Technical Skill
Easy
Easy (Blanch & Toss)
Meal Timing & Digestive Fit
Breakfast
Not Advised
Lunch
Prime Metabolic Fit
Dinner
Ideal Hearty Main
Snack & Tea
Inappropriate
Moroccan Mezze Classic
Photo: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Heritage Formulary
Estimated cost: Low — about $1–2 per serving at home (USD)
The beans are blanched, not boiled soft, and dressed while warm so they drink up the cumin and lemon; the salad is served at room temperature, never fridge-cold.
Execution Methodology & Culinary Technique
Prep Stage: Blanch the Beans, Whisk the Dressing
20 Mins • Blanch, Chop and Dress
Top and tail the beans and cut them into 5 cm lengths. Dice the tomato and red onion, mince the garlic, and chop the parsley. Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper into a dressing. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden if you are using them.
Maestro Tip: Have a big bowl of ice water ready before the beans go into the pot — the ice bath is what keeps them bright green and crisp.
5 Mins Boiling water, 100°C (212°F)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Drop in the beans and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until they are bright green and just tender — they should still have a bite. Drain at once and plunge them into the bowl of ice water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking, then drain well and pat dry.
Taste a bean at 4 minutes: it should bend a little but still snap. Grey, limp beans are overcooked and cannot be rescued.
Done when: Beans bright green, tender with a crisp bite, and fully cold.
6 Mins Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Dice the tomato small and the red onion as finely as you can. Mince the garlic to a paste and chop the parsley leaves. Put the drained beans in a wide bowl with the tomato, onion and parsley.
Dicing the onion fine matters — big raw onion chunks overpower every other flavour in the salad.
Done when: Tomato and onion in small, even dice, garlic minced, parsley chopped.
2 Mins Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
In a small cup, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper together until the dressing looks lightly cloudy and the salt has dissolved.
Whisk until the salt disappears — gritty salt in a cold salad is the one mistake you can taste in every bite.
Done when: A lightly cloudy dressing with the salt fully dissolved.
10 Mins Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Pour the dressing over the beans and vegetables and toss well so everything is coated. Add the minced garlic and toss again. Rest for 10 minutes at room temperature so the warm beans drink up the cumin and lemon — Moroccan salads are dressed and left to marry, not served the second they are tossed.
Dress the beans while they are still faintly warm from the ice bath drying, not fridge-cold, or the dressing will not soak in.
Done when: Beans glistening with dressing, fragrant with cumin and lemon.
2 Mins Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Taste and add a little more lemon or salt if it needs it. Scatter the toasted pine nuts and raisins over the top, and serve at room temperature in a wide, shallow bowl.
Scatter, do not stir the garnish in — it should sit on top where it can be seen and crunched.
Done when: Salad bright and glossy, garnish scattered on top, ready to serve.
Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve at room temperature, never straight from the fridge, in a wide bowl set in the middle of the table with warm bread for scooping.
Nutritional Physiology & Benefits
Energy
175
kcal / serving
Protein
4g
Complete AA
Carbs
18g
Complex
Fats
12g
Healthy
| Energy | 175 kcal |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Fibre | 5.0 g |
| Sugar | 8.6 g |
| Sodium | 306 mg |
| Energy | 82 kcal |
| Protein | 1.9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 8.3 g |
| Fat | 5.4 g |
| Fibre | 2.3 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Sodium | 143 mg |
Nutrition values are estimated — calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients.
Vitamins & minerals: Vitamin C and vitamin K (green beans, parsley, tomato), folate (beans, parsley), potassium (beans, tomato), vitamin E (olive oil, pine nuts).
Crisp, Light and Hydrating
Green beans and tomato are mostly water, so a big bowl of this salad refreshes with only 175 calories a serving.
Fibre and Folate
The beans bring about 5 g of fibre per serving, plus folate and vitamin K, with no cooking fat beyond the olive oil in the dressing.
Cumin Wakes Up the Plate
Warm cumin and lemon make plain vegetables taste bold, which is why this salad can hold its own next to rich tagines and grilled meat.
Food Pairings
To optimize nutrient absorption and elevate the sensory depth, pair with these authentic accompaniments:
Vegetables
Grilled Fish or Chicken
Hot, smoky grilled fish or chicken is the natural main course — the cool, sharp salad is the fresh counterpoint it needs.
Green Olives and Preserved Lemon
A small dish of olives and preserved lemon beside the salad deepens the same Moroccan flavours — salty, sour and fragrant.
Sides
Warm Khobz Bread
Soft Moroccan khobz scoops up the salad and its lemony dressing — the juices at the bottom of the bowl are too good to leave.
Drinks
Mint Tea
Hot, sweet mint tea continues the salad's fresh, herbal notes into the rest of the meal.
Complete menu
Serve the salad at room temperature with grilled fish or chicken, warm khobz bread, olives and a pot of mint tea, as part of a Moroccan mezze lunch.
Digestive Guardrails
To prevent digestive distress, sluggishness, or palate clash, avoid pairing the dish with these elements:
Boiling the Beans Soft
Beans boiled until limp turn grey and soggy and lose their vitamins into the water; blanch them just until tender-crisp. This is general food information, not medical advice.
Leaving It Out in the Heat
A dressed salad should not sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, especially in hot weather, because bacteria grow quickly on cut vegetables. This is general food information, not medical advice.
General information only, not medical advice — consult a doctor for personal dietary decisions.
Who Should Eat It
Health Conditions — Adjust or Avoid
If you have a medical condition, consult your doctor before changing your diet.
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