I love salads that use minimal ingredients yet taste flavorful and delicious. That is exactly how I would describe this Green Bean & Tomato Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette.
Before we get in to the salad I need to take a minute and complain. Last week WordPress came up with an update which I installed. Ever since then my plugin that I use for sharing my recipes with you has not worked correctly. I have uninstalled and reinstalled it numerous times with no luck. I can honestly say that I am not the most tech savvy girl. I can do basic things, but when things get complicated and codes and real techy things are involved, it goes right over my head. I don’t have the patience for it! I just want to write, add my photographs, and share a great recipe with you. So until this whole issue with the recipe plugin that I use is resolved I am using a different plugin for sharing my recipes. If they look a little different than what you are used to that is the reason and I apologize, unless of course you like this format better. If you do like it better please let me know! Back to this delicious and fresh Green Bean & Tomato Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette.
I love this salad because the salad itself uses only three ingredients; green beans, tomatoes, and a shallot. Green beans are great right now so I couldn’t resist buying some. Tomatoes are another story. 99% of the time I find that the tomatoes in the grocery store almost inedible. They are flavorless, mealy, and just plain gross! I’m dying for our farmer’s market to start up again so I can get beautiful, sweet, juicy tomatoes again. Until then I have found that cherry or grape tomatoes are the best way to go if you are using tomatoes. The dressing for this salad really pulls all the flavors together. The dressing consists of fresh lemon juice (please don’t use that weird bottled stuff), dijon mustard, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, a small clove or garlic, agave nectar to sweeten it, and salt and pepper to taste. I like to put my dressing in a little mason jar that way I can shake the heck out of it and ensure that it is combined well. I poured half the dressing over the salad and it was plenty.
The salad has a great crunch from the green beans, sweetness from the tomatoes, and tang from the vinaigrette. This Green Bean & Tomato Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette makes a wonderful side dish with any kind of grilled meat, or if you have some leftover Easter ham it would go wonderfully with it!
Danae
Yields 4
A simple fresh salad perfect for spring!
10 minPrep Time
3 minCook Time
13 minTotal Time
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans, washed and end trimmed
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 T. shallot, minced
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 2 T. dijon mustard
- 1 T. rice wine vinegar
- 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 t. agave nectar or honey
- 1 small clove of garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Clean and trim the ends off of the green beans.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add in a few pinches of salt to the water and then add in the green beans.
- Cook the green beans in the water for 3 minutes.
- Remove the green beans from the water and put them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
- While they are cooling, chop the tomatoes in half and mince the shallot.
- Place the drained and cooled green beans, halved tomatoes, and shallot in a serving bowl.
- In a small bowl or mason jar add all of the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk or shake them well.
- Pour half the dressing over the salad and toss everything together.
- Serve the salad immediately or store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
