I came across a recipe on BigOven for a balsamic green bean salad, and it looked like just the thing to use up a big hunk o’ Bulgarian Feta cheese in the fridge and at least half a bag of haricots verts I had stashed in the freezer.
As always, tho’, I needed to make a few changes first; sliced red onion was replaced with sweet onion, cherry tomatoes with Sunburst; and then I added toasted pecans and dried cherries. Because why the heck not? And y’know what? It’s good!
INGREDIENTS
Salad:
•12 oz frozen haricot vert
•1/2 small sweet onion sliced
•Sunburst tomatoes, halved
•Dried cherries
•Roasted Pecans
•Feta cheese, crumbled
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar*
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
*Not all balsamic vinegars are created equal. I only use this one – aged for 25 years, this product of Modena will spoil you for other balsamics, and the price ($20 for a 375mL bottle) is a great value.
Back to the salad.
Place frozen haricots verts in a ‘wave safe casserole with two tablespoons of water.
Cover and ‘wave for three minutes, then transfer immediately to a bowl filled with ice water until the beans are completely cooled.
Drain well and set aside.
Make the vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar and lemon juice together with the seasonings, then whisking in the oil until well blended, or…
combine the balsamic and lemon juice with the seasonings in a beaker and giver ’em all a good whizzz with your immersion blender, then add the olive oil and whizzz again until the dressing has emulsified.
Add the sliced onion to the haricots verts, then drizzle the dressing over, toss to coat, and stash in the fridge for at least one hour.
Just before serving, add the cheese, tomato, toasted pecans, and dried cherries and give it all a nice toss.
We had ours along side barbecued corned beef and sweet potato slices; and there was enough salad and corned beef leftover to make for a very pleasant wrap sammich for lunch the next day.