Green Bean Salad

This Green Bean Salad with tomatoes and creamy feta is made with fresh green beans, cherry or grape tomatoes, and creamy Danish feta. 

With a delicious homemade dressing, this salad is perfect for holidays, potluck dinners and family gatherings!

Salads are a mainstay on our table - sometimes just a light spinach salad like this one and other times we like more hearty salads with rice or zesty Italian pasta salad or Mediterranean cucumber salad.  But this Green Bean Salad is a favourite especially this one with tomatoes and creamy Danish feta.

 A tangy homemade honey, mustard and lemon dressing brings the salad together. Serve it warm or cold for an easy side dish to something like baked Italian chicken thighs and mashed potatoes with red skin or a light vegetarian meal with crusty bread!

Ingredients

You won't need many ingredients for this salad so be sure to use the freshest. You will need:-

• green beans.
• grape or cherry tomatoes or better still and assortment.
• creamy Danish marinated feta.
• good EVO oil.
• lemon juice.
• red wine vinegar.
• garlic.
• honey.
• Dijon mustard.

To serve, sprinkle with toasted almond flakes which give the salad a nutty, toasty finish.

If you've got extra green beans, make my Italian Green Beans and Potatoes for another tasty side dish.

Instructions

1. Combine the dressing ingredients.
2. In a large bowl, combine dressing with cooked beans then add remaining ingredients.

To cook green beans well firstly half fill a large saucepan with water and add a tablespoon of salt. Bring water to a boil.

Trim both ends of the beans and cut into 5cm/2inch lengths and add green beans to boiling water. Boil fast for 5-8 minutes.

Taste to check for doneness at 5 minutes and check regularly if not done. When cooked to your taste, drain very well. Pat dry with some paper towel if still wet.

Tips for success

Green beans can be soggy and mushy if overcooked. At the same time if not cooked well you will find beans unpleasantly squeaky between your teeth. Not nice!

Please don't rinse the beans after cooking or you will rinse away flavour!

Warm green beans absorb so much flavour so this is the time to add the dressing.

Use a large bowl so that you can mix the warm green beans gently but thoroughly with the dressing. If you don't have a large enough bowl, use a large platter. This also ensures that the beans cool quickly and don't continue to cook.

Danish feta is creamy, tangy and salty all at the same time. Combine with the green beans, tomatoes and dressing only at the end and mix lightly. You will find that the creamy feta mixes with the dressing to add another element to the salad. Without the creamy Danish feta with Green Bean Salad is just another salad.

Serving Suggestions

This Green Bean Salad goes with anything. Eat it on its own for a light or vegetarian meal. A delicious butterfly chicken recipe is complete with a side of this salad and so is a frittata with ham and cheese. Actually, you could serve this with almost anything - steak, chicken or fish.

This salad is best at room temperature. If you do make this salad in advance, refrigerate it for a few hours but not overnight. Remember to bring it to room temperature before serving.

Green Bean Salad with tomatoes and feta is full of zingy flavour with a touch of creaminess from the feta.  Easy to make and delicious to eat, this salad is bound to become a firm favourite!

 More recipes like this

Zesty Italian Pasta Salad - all your fav Italian flavors!

Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad - the best take on a classic.

Brown Rice Salad - with red peppers, currants and pinenuts.

Orange Spinach and Pomegranate Salad from It's Not Complicated Recipes

Recipe

Green Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Creamy Feta

This Green Bean Salad with tomatoes and creamy feta is made with fresh green beans, cherry or grape tomatoes, and creamy Danish feta.  A tangy homemade honey, mustard and lemon dressing brings the salad together. Serve it warm or cold for an easy side dish! 

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Cooling time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 48 minutes minutes

Servings:8 people

Author: Marcellina

Ingredients

• ▢ 1¾ lbs (800 grams) green beans
• ▢ 1½ cups (250 grams) cherry or grape tomatoes
• ▢ ¾ cup (125 grams) marinated danish feta

Dressing

• ▢ ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 garlic clove crushed or finely chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ 4 teaspoon lemon juice
• ▢ 4 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• ▢ 3 teaspoons honey
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
• ▢ Freshly ground pepper

To serve

• ▢ 2 tablespoons toasted flaked almonds

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Instructions

• Trim the end of the beans and cut into 2inch/5cm lengths.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
• Add the beans and cook for 5-8 minutes until tender.
• While the beans are cooking, cut the tomatoes halves or quarters depending on size and make the dressing. Cut the feta into small pieces.
• Drain beans well.
• While beans are still warm toss in the dressing. Allow to cool to room temp.
• Gently combine tomatoes with the beans.
• Add feta and mix until just combined.
• Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle with toasted almonds.
• Serve at room temperature.

Make the dressing.

• In a large bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients until thoroughly combined. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Take particular care with not adding too much salt because the beans have already been cooked in salted water and the feta is salty.

Notes

Marcellina's Tips

How to cook green beans.

1. Bring water to the boil.
2. Trim both ends of the beans and cut into 5cm/2inch lengths.
3. Add green beans to boiling water.
4. Boil fast for 5-8 minutes.
5. Taste to check for doneness at 5 minutes and check regularly if not done.
6. When cooked to your taste, drain very well.
7. Pat dry with some paper towel if still wet.

How to properly dress this salad.

Warm green beans absorb so much flavour so this is the time to add the dressing. Use a large bowl so that you can mix the warm green beans gently but thoroughly with the dressing. If you don't have a large enough bowl, use a large platter. This also ensures that the beans cool quickly and don't continue to cook. Please don't rinse the beans or you will rinse away flavour!

Make this recipe NUT FREE.

Substitute toasted pepitas for toasted flaked almonds.

Make this recipe DAIRY FREE.

Substitute black olives for feta.

 

 

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Nutritional Estimate Per Serving

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 264mg | Potassium: 306mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 909IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 124mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. For accurate results, it is recommended that the nutritional information be calculated based on the ingredients and brands you use.