Green Bean Salad with Lemon Herb Dressing
Green Bean Salad
This salad is something that I made with frequency when I started to clean up my diet because it is a fantastic side dish to grilled or barbecued meat. In my recent cleaning up of the fridge I came across some snap peas that clearly had seen better days and the I tossed together this salad and I remembered why I loved it ! Refreshing lemon herby dressing and crisp beans with juicy tomatoes…. 5-8 minutes to prepare is a winner any day for me .
Tips:
Depending snap or snow peas need to be blanched in boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes maximum or they will get mushy . If you are using green beans (haricot vert or Chinese long beans aka Bodi ) these require a longer blanching time approximately 10-12 minutes ).
Place the sliced shallot or red onion in cold ice water until ready to prepare the salad to get rid of the intense raw onion taste .
Feta or goat cheese or even avocado can be added to the salad to give added richness.
The extra salad dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for the 5 days .
Ingredients
1 cup of snap peas
6 cherry tomatoes halved
1/4 shallot finely sliced
Dressing
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup of olive oil
11/2 teaspoon of agave
1 sprig of mint leave finely minced
2 sprigs of thyme de stemmed
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of mustard powder
Preparation:
Place 2 cups of water to boil on the stove top, when a rapid boil is achieved add salt and toss in the peas and turn off the heat .
After 3 minutes remove from the boiling water and place beans in a bowl of ice cold water .
(You can add the finely sliced shallot to this bowl ).
Prepare the dressing by placing lemon juice, olive oil, agave and herbs in a container with a secure cover and shake for 2 minutes until a thick emulsion is formed.
Taste and add salt and black pepper (to your taste) .
Drain the peas and pat dry with paper towels and place in a bowl with tomato and shallot, pour 2 tablespoons of the dressing in the bowl and toss to evenly coat the salad. (Add more dressing depending on your preference) .