Green Bean Garden Salad with Tomatoes, Corn & Fresh Dill

A "real" garden salad, made with fresh summer vegetables straight from the garden, crisp barely cooked green beans, ripe tomato, sweet corn kernels, all tossed in a tangy feta salad dressing.

Fresh & Summery. Great Crunch. Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.

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COMPLIMENTS!

• “It is delicious!" ~ Charlie

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Harrumph. What Some Places Pass Off As "Garden Salads".

“Garden salad” – what image paints itself in your mind when reading this pair of words?

Are you like me, for whom the words have been hijacked by a certain style of restaurant? You know, the places that toss bags of prepackaged iceberg lettuce with pallid bits of tomato, grated cheddar and dusty croutons, douse it with gloppy ranch dressing and then pass this off as a “garden salad”.

Who're they kidding???

This, people, this Green Bean Garden Salad, is a “real garden salad”. The beans are bright green and crisp, the tomatoes plump and wet, the corn kernels warm and slightly sweet.

It all pulls together with a garlicky feta dressing with – get this – no added fat! None is needed, the lemon juice and honey provide just enough liquid to make the dressing easy to distribute throughout the vegetables.

Whether the vegetables come from a farmshare, a farmstand or a farmers market – even the cornucopia of high-quality fresh vegetables we find in modern supermarkets – this salad tastes like a garden on a plate.

Without the dirt and pests, we hope!

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GREEN BEAN GARDEN SALAD RECIPE
with TOMATOES, CORN & FRESH DILL

Hands-on time: 35 minutes
Time to table: 35 minutes
Serves 6

GREEN BEANS
• 8 cups water
• 1 tablespoon table salt
• 1 pound green beans, stem ends snapped off
• Large bowl ice water

FETA DRESSING
• 2 ounces (57g) feta cheese
• Zest & juice (about 2 tablespoons) of a lemon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

TO FINISH
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 ear corn, kernels sliced off ear (How to Cut Corn Kernels Off an Ear)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

GREEN BEANS Bring the water and salt to a boil. Drop the beans into the boiling water and let cook for 2 – 3 minutes, until “just done” but still bright green. Pour the pot of beans through a colander, then dip the entire colander into the ice water; use your hands to swish the water around until the beans are completely cool. Lift the colander out of the ice water, let drain a few minutes. Dry the beans between double layers of paper towels until completely dry.

FETA DRESSING In a large bowl, use a fork to mix the dressing until smooth, it will be thick and a little grainy.

TO FINISH Toss beans into the feta dressing, then gently stir in the tomatoes and corn. Transfer to a serving dish and top with 1 tablespoon fresh dill.

TO MAKE AHEAD Cook and dry beans, mix the dressing and prep the tomatoes and corn. No more than an hour before serving, combine.

LEFTOVERS Best on first day but “okay” on second day.

A NEW GARLIC TRICK! Tim Brennan, the baker extraordinaire at the St. Louis bakery and restaurant Cravings (he made our wedding cake and our first anniversary cake and our ...) taught me this garlic trick. Mince a clove of garlic with your knife, then sprinkle about a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt on top of the garlic and let it rest for a few minutes. The garlic will soften, making it easier to mince the garlic even finer. You can also “mash” the garlic easily into a garlicky paste with the flat side of the knife blade. Cool, eh?!

ALANNA’s TIPS I like the looks of long slender fingers of green beans but honestly, the salad is easier to eat and will go further if the beans are cut into one- or two-inch lengths. The inspiring recipe called for goat cheese but tangy feta is my “creamy soft cheese” of choice. I think blue cheese would work great too. Dill is just excellent here, worth seeking out, but basil would work too, if slightly more predictably. So would fresh tarragon. A whole summer tomato would work well too, just dice it and let the pieces dry a bit on paper towels for a few minutes. A tomato knife works just great for both the tomatoes and the corn.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 78 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 8mg Cholesterol; 113mg Sodium; 13g Carb; 3g Fiber; 6g Sugar; 4g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 1 & SmartPoints & Freestyle CALORIE COUNTERS For 100-calorie servings, use 5 servings (5g protein).

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More Irresistible Summer Salad Recipes

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ Favorite Summer Salad Recipes ~
~ more easy summer salad recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

~ Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes for August ~
~ Summer Lentils ~
~ Summer Black-Eyed Pea Salad ~
~ Finnish Summer Potato Salad ~
~ more favorite salad recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture, my food blog

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ more green bean recipes ~
~ more feta cheese recipes ~
~ more tomato recipes ~
~ more corn recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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