Salads don’t need to contain lettuce. In fact, some of my favorite salads are lettuce-free such as black bean and corn salad, cherry tomato salad and this amazingly delicious green bean salad.
Green Bean Salad Ingredients
To make this green bean salad you will need green beans, cherry tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, kalamata olives and fresh herbs like dill, parsley, chives or basil. For the salad dressing make sure you have olive oil, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, salt and black pepper. Enjoy this salad with warm weather favorites like BBQ pork chops, grilled chicken wings and beer can chicken!
How Do You Make Green Bean Salad?
To make this green bean salad recipe, start by blanching trimmed green beans. Place them in boiling water and cook them for 2-3 minutes. Remove them from the boiling water and place the beans in a large bowl of ice water. Pat the beans dry. The blanched green beans go in a large bowl with halved cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion, crumbled feta cheese, sliced olives and fresh herbs. Next, in a small bowl whisk together extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, salt and black pepper. Pour the Greek dressing over the salad and gently toss to combine. Enjoy your salad!
Tips For The Perfect Green Bean Salad
This recipe calls for blanching the green beans. Blanching is a process where you simmer the beans in salted water until they’re just tender, then the beans get transferred to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. The end result is perfectly cooked, bright green beans! Use tongs or a strainer to remove the green beans from the boiling water. Use a sharp knife or a mandoline to thinly slice your red onion. You can make the dressing for this salad up to 5 days in advance. I always purchase a block of feta cheese and crumble it myself rather than using crumbled feta cheese. I like to use a combination of fresh chopped parsley and dill in this salad. Other great options are chives, green onions or fresh basil.
Flavor Variations
There are so many different ways to customize green bean salad to your taste preferences!
Nuts: Add 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, sliced almonds or chopped walnuts. Cheese: Substitute goat cheese or shaved parmesan cheese for the feta. Vegetables: You can use other vegetables such as marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, cucumber, capers or diced green bell pepper. Egg: Try adding sliced hard-boiled eggs to this salad. Dressing: Enjoy this salad with a variety of dressings. You can try Italian dressing, homemade ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing or balsamic vinaigrette.
I love to make this salad in the warmer months when green beans are in season, but it’s really a great choice all year round. You’ll get tons of compliments on this unique side dish!
