Green Bean, Bacon, Tomato and Feta Salad

Hello Dear Reader,

Firstly I want to say a thank you for the lovely messages from you about yesterdays not so happy post, I don't have the energy at the moment to respond personally to those messages, but please know I am so very thankful for your kind and wise words. I did have a better day yesterday as I only spent about 3 hours over there and did a lot of catching up in my own home. Now, on with todays recipe.

Todays post is just a simple but brilliant side dish that is full of really punchy flavours that lift the humble green bean to runway ready with support acts from feta and bacon. MMM salty goodness, tender crisp beans and a tart vinaigrette, so delicious, so easy and I think it would go with so many different mains.

Firstly make the vinaigrette-in a jar with a tight fitting lid combine-2 tablespoons oil of choice, 1/1/2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar, a good grind of salt and pepper, 1 garlic clove, grated on a microplane and juice of 1/2 a lemon. Pop the lid on and give it a really good shake, set aside till needed

For the salad, clockwise from top left-500 grams of green beans, topped, tailed and cut in half, 1 cup of small tomatoes, halved, 100 grams of feta, cubed or crumbled, the vinaigrette from above and 3 bacon rashers, fried till crispy and crumbled (I just bake it in the oven till golden and crispy)

Cook the beans for about 2 to 3 minutes then drain well and plunge into an iced water bath to stop the cooking and retain the bright green colour, again, drain well. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except vinaigrette 

Give it a gentle but thorough toss

Pour over vinaigrette and serve immediately 

I serve this wonderful salad over two nights (it was just the two of us) with roast chicken and slow cooked BBQ Beef Brisket. It was divine with both. I didn't dress the second portion of the salad till we were ready to eat the second night. I think the balsamic dressing would stain the feta and make the tomatoes too soft if you dressed the whole salad. However if you're feeding a crowd go ahead and dress the whole salad with all the dressing.

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PS-This recipe comes from the gorgeous Mel from Mels Kitchen Cafe, I adore this lady, so many amazing recipes. I have, as always tinkered with the recipe to suit our tastes and have adjusted the quantities from the original recipe.

Have the loveliest of days,
💗Fi

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