My in-laws came by for a visit this weekend and brought with them fresh String Beans from their garden.  I have to say that is one of my favorite things about summer -  fresh from the garden vegetables.

Freshly washed garden string beans

Since we had plenty of tomatoes on hand, I figured I’d try out the following recipe:

Marinated Green Beans with Olives, Tomatoes, and Feta

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 1 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano  ( I just used ground oregano since I didn’t have any fresh)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package crumbled feta
• 1/2 bunch fresh oregano sprigs ( I just used ground oregano since I didn’t have any fresh)

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium heat and drop in the green beans; cook until slightly tender, but still crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately drain the green beans and plunge into ice water to stop the beans from cooking further. Drain the beans and place them in a shallow serving dish.

chopping vegetables

Marinated Green Beans with Olives and Tomatoes

3. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top and garnish with oregano sprigs.

Chef’s note: I let everyone just add their own feta as my kids aren’t crazy about feta cheese.  I also baked some Ciabatta bread to go along with this dish.  I loved the dish – it has a strong olive taste so if you don’t like olives I wouldn’t recommend it.  But I’m the girl that orders her martinis extra dirty…   My oldest son and my husband liked it.  The 2 younger boys weren’t that crazy about it.  They like their green beans to taste like green beans. I will definitely make this dish again but pull some beans to the side for the two younger boys.

Happy Eating