Turn Green Beans into an Athenian Delicacy

Years ago I spent a summer in Greece as a high school exchange student and learned a lot about Greek cooking.  I didn’t put it into practice, though, until I finished college and moved into my own apartment.

My first attempt was making Spanakopita, which are small pastries stuffed with spinach and cheese. I liked eating them, but making them was a disaster because I had no clue how to handle phyllo dough.  I still can’t do it well, so I order them at a restaurant.

Salad vs. Vegetable: Can One Dish Serve Two Purposes?

Yes, one dish can serve two purposes—if you choose the right vegetable.  In this case, Dorothy, our hostess, picked fresh green beans.  I know many ways to cook fresh green beans, but making them the basis of a salad never occurred to me.

Dorothy combined the cold cooked beans with halved cherry tomatoes, tossed in a handful of chopped up feta cheese and topped it all with vinaigrette dressing.  What could be easier – or more colorful?  Dorothy is a fashion designer and knows how to dress a table.

Green Bean Salad – serves 4-6 

1/2 pound (8 oz.) fresh green beans, stem end trimmed
2 cups cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half
1/2 cup minced feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Vinaigrette dressing 

Half-fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. And the green beans and cook, covered, for 5-to-6 minutes, or until they can be easily pierced with a sharp knife.  Remove the beans from the heat, drain into a colander and pour cold water over them.  When the beans are cool, cut them into 2-inch pieces. 

Combine the beans and cherry tomato halves in a serving bowl.  Add the feta cheese, salt and black pepper and toss to combine.  Add some dressing and toss again.  Serve when needed.

                  For easy recipes, order "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!"

Question for Mom

(Left) Uncooked Broccoli  (Middle) Broccoli Cooked for 5 minutes  (Right) Broccoli Cooked for 10 Minutes

Why do green vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts and green beans become dull and unappetizing when I cook them? –Ralph B.

Most likely you overcooked them.  To maintain their bright color, cut the vegetables into smaller pieces and cook them for no longer than 5 minutes.

                                            See all Questions for Mom

Reinventing a Classic Vegetable

Gugarati Green Beans

Sometimes cooking a traditional vegetable a different way makes me think I’m Christopher Columbus discovering a new world.  It happened a while ago with green beans.

My first memory of green beans involved a tuna casserole.  I’m pretty sure those beans came out of a can.  They must have been overcooked because they were soft and squishy.  But at the time I didn’t know they could taste any different.  I just ate what was put in front of me.

Years later I picked some green beans growing in a friend’s garden and discovered:

How Far Can You Stray From a Classic Recipe?

I’ve been aware of Gado Gado, an Indonesian salad, for years.  I’ve admired pictures of it and even considered making it at one point.  But I never did because 1) it looked like too much work, and 2) it didn’t appear filling enough to be a main course.

Sunset Magazine’s July issue carried a recipe for this salad, and I finally decided to try it.  ‘Too much work’ and ‘not filling enough’ still seemed valid concerns, so I decided to add a few of my own touches and subtract one of theirs--the bean sprouts, because there were enough cold vegetables already on the platter.

Mom Cooking Tip 81

Want to make sure your green vegetables stay bright green after cooking?  Add them to boiling water and don’t over-cook them.  Five minutes should be enough time to cook any green vegetable.

See all my Cooking Tips!