Tasty Tuesdays! Green Bean Salad with Feta

Its that time of the week again, time for the Tasty Tuesday! recipe post that we all look forward to.  Here in sparkling Tulsa, OK this week it has been HOT with plenty of humidity!!  The past several days it has been 100+ degrees. Sunday & Monday were 104 - 105 with more sunshine in the forecast.  On the bright side, it's only supposed to reach 95 on Thursday....Where did I put my coat??......  Besides making me want to work on my tan, swimming, stay in the air conditioner, etc. this weather makes me think of lighter foods.  Heavy meals and hot weather for me are like oil & water, they just don't mix.

This week's post is a lighter dish, well suited to hot weather and again many thanks to Michael of Michael Fusco's Riverside Grill in Tulsa, OK.  Great food, great atmosphere, and his cooking classes are awesome too.

The recipe is as follows:  Makes 6 - 8 servings

1 1/2 pounds  green beans, trimmed

1 small red onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup pitted & split Kalamata olives

4 Roma tomatoes split & oven roasted

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 ounces crumbled Feta cheese

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

It took me a long time to learn this and sometimes I still don't practice what I preach but it helps a great deal to have all of your ingredients measured, assembled, and ready to go when you start cooking.  It seems like a small step but one that we often forget. 

You will want to slice your tomatoes lengthwise and roast in the oven around 350-375 for 20-40 minutes depending on size.  Your goal is to evaporate the water as much as possible from them.  Put a bit of olive oil and sea salt after roasting....mmmmmmm......You can add basil or tri-herb to concentrate the flavor as well.

Cook your green beans in boiling salted water for approx. 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process.  Drain and pat dry.  Place in a serving bowl, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.  When boiling the water for your green beans, there are a couple of tricks you can use to preserve the color such as sprinkling a touch of baking soda in the water or using empty egg shells.  This not only works for green beans but any other green vegetable as well.  This will allow you to keep the bright colors and the food won't appear washed out.  (I learn something in every class!)

Add chopped onion (I love Vidalia's), Kalamatas, Romas, and Lemon Vinaigrette to beans, tossing to coat.  Sprinkle with feta and almonds.

Something else I learned was about olive oil.  The general, run of the mill olive oil that you buy in the store is machine pressed to extract the oil.  Good quality, flavor, etc. from this type of oil and we all know how healthy it is for us.  Virgin olive oil is from unpressed olives that are stacked in pans and the weight of the olives presses the oil out the bottom and it is collected.  Extra virgin is done in the same way but the pans are stacked much shorter, and if you notice when you look at the oil, the colors are much different on each one.  The extra virgin often has a much deeper color  than the other varieties.  I don't know about the health benefits of each one but the oil seems to sell itself, at least in our home, we cook with it all the time.....

This salad was one that I hadn't had in a looong time and it was very good.  Crisp green beans, tomatoes, sliced almonds and the tangy cheese all made a great combination.  Not to mention it is naturally Gluten Free!

Stay tuned next week for another Dutch Oven post.  I got a new 12" oven and I've already been looking for recipes.  Also you will likely see the page change in the coming days.  I will be adding buttons on the top for popular search items such as 5* recipes, Dutch Oven recipes etc....I have so many questions about Dr. Wise and his formula, Intestinal Calm for Celiac disease, that I wanted to put some navigation buttons for ease of use.  Hopefully that will make the blogging and learning process a bit faster for your busy lives.

Enjoy!!

This post is part of the following blog carnivals.......Go check out these great sites!!

Mouthwatering Mondays
Monday Mania
Two for Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Whats On The Menu Wednesday
Gluten-Free Wednesdays
Real Food Wednesday
Pennywise Platter Thursday
Prairie Story: BBQ Recipe Swap
Fight Back Friday