Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Time For A Green Bean Salad.


It's summer time and the salads are easy.
 
Today, it's a green bean and yellow squash salad with a fresh herb vinaigrette.

For the salad fixin's:
2 cup green beans, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow squash, peeled and diced
2 TB toasted sliced almonds
1 TB chopped red onion
2 TB crumbled feta



I use 1 TB kosher salt
to 1 quart water.

Heavily salted.
Here's why:

 Boil away.

Drain.
Then ice water bath
to stop cooking.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To prepare vegetables:  Drop green beans into salted boiling water.  Cook 5-6 minutes.  Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking and set bright green color.
Blanch squash.  Drop into boiling water, cook 1 minute, drain, and ice water bath.
 
Combine all ingredients.
 
For the vinaigrette: 
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 tsp coarse grain mustard
1/3 cup Bertolli light olive oil
pinch kosher salt 
1 tsp chopped basil
1 tsp chopped mint
Stir vinegar and mustard together.  Slowly drizzle olive oil into mixture, whisking constantly, until you have a nice emulsion.  Season to taste with a pinch of kosher salt.  Stir in basil and mint.
Pour over vegetable mixture and toss to coat.
 

 
 
 
 


 
Now, this is your basic salad.  If you want to go off on a tangent, feel free.
You could use fresh mozzarella balls instead of the feta.
You could use a different nut, say walnuts instead of the almonds.
You could give it a zesting of lemon or orange.
You could go with dill or tarragon or parsley.
You could add cherry tomatoes.
It's up to you.
 
        
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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