Garden veggies in a light dressing make for a refreshing way to enjoy salad!
This green bean and tomato salad recipe is the ultimate in clean eating. The ingredients are fresh, healthy, and prepared simply so that they retain their flavor, texture, and nutrients. Green beans are the focus of this dish. A staple in many warm weather gardens, fresh green beans are a delicious vegetable that’s always a crowd pleaser. Their antioxidant value, heart-healthy nature, and fiber content make them a nutritious, and their crunchy texture is a winner.
Blanch your green beans to allow them to retain their texture, their bright green color, and their nutrient content. After boiling for just a few minutes, until the green beans have softened only slightly and still snap when you break them, toss them into a bowl of ice water. This stops the cooking process immediately, leaving your green beans just where you want them: crunchy, green, and full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Once you’ve blanched your green beans, simply toss them with antioxidant-rich tomatoes, and add walnuts. Walnuts are a great source of fiber, protein, and healthy fats, and add a nice crunch to this delicious salad.
With outstanding ingredients like these, you don’t want to drench them in a heavy dressing. Take a page from our clean eating approach to dressing salads, and prepare a light, citrusy topping. We found that tossing our salad with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper give this salad a refreshingly light taste, without loading on extra fat and calories.
Green Bean and Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans remove just the rough stem side
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved (1/2 pint)
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup walnuts toasted, chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed (about half a lemon)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Bring a pot of 8 cups water to a boil with half a tablespoon salt. Add the green beans.
- Boil until bright green and slightly tender, for about four minutes. Check by removing a bean, the bean should still have some snap when you break it in half.
- While blanching the beans in the boiling water, prepare a large bowl of ice water (there should be about half ice to half water).
- Drain the beans. Add the green beans to the ice bath and remove as soon as they are cold, or after 30 seconds. Add beans back to the colander to remove any excess water.
Nutrition Information
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How can 1/2 of the recipe be one serving, if the recipe makes 4 servings?
Julie, This was supposed to read 1/4 of the recipe. This has been corrected. Thank you!