Looking for a salad with some serious crunch but no lettuce? And maybe some delicious salty feta for good measure? Look no further than this Green Bean Feta Salad. It’s simple to throw together but a little different than your usual veggie side and it’s absolutely delicious. We’ve got fresh herbs, we’ve got lemon juice, we’ve got fresh juicy tomatoes, we’ve got salty feta… Oh, and all those fresh vibrant crunchy green beans too!
The key here is really in blanching the green beans so they’re the perfect texture, but that’s very easy to do. You just want to make sure you have an ice bath ready to go, and then boil the green beans for just a few minutes until they’re bright green and still crisp. Then plunge them in that ice water to stop their cooking!
While they’re hanging out in their icy bath, make the dressing, which only involves whisking together some olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper.
Toss that with those cool, crisp green beans, some crunchy red onion, juicy cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and parsley, and a crumbling of salty feta and well, my friend, you’re in salad heaven.
Green Bean Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs green beans, trimmed and cut in half
- Juice from 2 lemons
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water as an ice bath for the green beans. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and blanch quickly, cooking for no longer than 3 minutes.
- Remove and transfer to ice bath to cool.
- While green beans sit in the ice bath, stir together lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- To a large bowl, add red onion, tomatoes, basil, and parsley. Shake excess water from green beans or pat try, then add to bowl.
- Add feta and dressing and toss to combine. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Four To Cook For.