Green Bean Salad with Dijon Dressing

A few weeks ago I saw this recipe on Casondra's blog and I wanted to give it a try. But first, I had to wait for my green beans to grow in my garden. They eventually did and now I have tons (which I have to can, don't remind me). I picked out the nicest looking beans and set them aside for this recipe. The rest were snapped and are waiting to go into canning jars. I didn't follow this recipe exactly, mostly because I didn't have all of the ingredients, and some of the ingredients (the feta) would be picked around my husband. He's not a feta fan. Anyway, the recipe was delicious and adding new ingredients just shows the versatility. It's impossible to mess up and you can combine any flavors to match your meal. 

Actually, the entire dinner yesterday was delicious. It was one of those memorable dinners that we will look back on and make comments about. We were going to grill steaks outdoors because it's 40,000 degrees with high humidity here (heating the house is a no-no). But it started to storm, bien sur. I won't lie, I hate storms and rain. I want to be outside, see the sunshine, or sleep in bed without flashing lights in my window. Yesterday was probably one of the very few times that I didn't mind the storm though, even if it interfered with my BBQ. The temperature was insane. So this brought in some cooler weather which allowed me to bake today (yay!!!!!).

Dinner Menu:

• Ribeye steaks, indoors (salt, pepper and a touch of onion powder)
• Swiss chard (remove the steaks from the pan to rest, drain excess oil if there is any, add a little bit of chicken stock to the pan to deglaze it, then some minced garlic, add the chard and a touch of salt/pepper and cover with a lid until wilted)
• Cheesy mashed potatoes
• Green bean salad

Trim the beans

Mix the veggies and dressing

Green Bean Salad with Dijon Dressing

Serving Size = 2 - 3

Original Recipe: Pieces of my Heaven on Earth (I made several changes, so check out her recipe)

• Fresh green beans (as many as you want, I just grabbed two or three huge handfuls), trim the ends off (the ones that attach to the plant)
• 1/2 cup of diced cucumber
• 2 - 3 roma tomatoes
• 1/4 cup or so of rinsed chick peas

*You can also add red onion and feta cheese

1. Place the trimmed green beans into a pot and add water, bring to boil and cook for 8 minutes, or until crisp but tender. Immediately remove from pan and place into a cold ice bath to stop the cooking.
2. Add the other veggies to the dressing (recipe below) and mix. Place the green beans onto a serving platter, top with the veggies and dressing. 

Dijon Dressing

• 3 - 4 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed)
• 1 - 2 tablespoons or so of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• Salt (don't skimp or it will be flavorless)
• Pepper
• Pinch of sugar (optional)

*This is a rough guess. First, I like to use a lot of dressing, and second, I just add to taste. Some people like lots of vinegar, others don't.  

1. Whisk everything together and adjust to taste. Remember to add plenty of salt, this will give the dressing more flavor.