Green banana green bean salad

Green bananas are typically cooked in coconut cream in Samoa. Try this version, which is a good potato-salad replacement and uses the terrific green snake beans grown in Samoa. Tomatoes in the tropics tend to grow too quickly to develop the dense sweetness required for sauces and the like; instead they are crunchy and astringent, and perfect for salads.

Recipe from Robert Oliver's book Mea'ai Samoa.

Ingredients

6	Green bananas (Main)
¼ cup	Milk, or 1 tsp vinegar
2 Tbsp	Fresh lime juice
½ cup	Olive oil
100 g	Green beans, trimmed and blanched (Main)
1 cup	Cherry tomatoes, or chopped ripe tomato
1 clove	Garlic, minced
½ cup	Coriander, leaves, rinsed and dried
½ jar	Capers, drained

Directions

1. Cut the core ends off the bananas and simmer in their skins in plenty of water with a little milk or vinegar.
2. When the bananas are just soft (approximately 20 minutes), the skins will begin to split. Remove from the heat immediately, drain and let cool, then peel and slice into a bowl. Add the lime juice and olive oil.
3. Add the beans, tomatoes, garlic, capers and coriander. Mix well and season to taste.

Check out more from Robert Oliver's booksMea'ai SamoaandMe'a Kai:

• Carmel Moore's koko cupcakes with koko lime icing
• Goat and green pawpaw curry