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Green Bean and Orange Salad

This is a side dish I would serve in the summer or the winter, for a holiday dinner, or lunch with a friend at the kitchen counter. It’s easy, it’s colorful, and it has an intriguing mix of tastes and textures.

Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

Fruit in Salads

Some people think it’s a great way to add sweetness, color, texture to salads.  Other people are not all that into it. I love it, though in moderation.  Clearly their people do, too, because Wendy’s has apples in a salad, and Chik-fil-A has strawberries in one of theirs.  This is not happenstance.

Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

My kids are not big fans of citrus in their salads, though Jack can inhale a 3-pound bag of clementines in one sitting.   Jack is also is a feta/Greek Salad addict, and Charlie can eat up to a pound of these green beans if he’s in the mood.  But basically Charlie would say to me, “Why did you have to ruin a perfectly good plate of green beans with clementines?”  And Jack would say, “Why did you waste all of those perfectly good clementines in a green bean dish?  And by the way, is that all the feta there is?”

It’s always interesting how even though you might really  like all of the individual components of a dish, you might not want to see them paired up on a plate.  I mean, clearly this is true of, say, avocados and chocolate sauce (or maybe not), but even ingredients that might seem to pair well often don’t please kids or more discriminating adults.

Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

But hey—in the immortal words of John Lydgate, “you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”  You know, I’ve never had a motto for cooking for families, but I think I might have just found it.

The beans can be cooked and tossed with the dressing up to 2 days ahead of time.  Add the oranges and the feta just before serving.  If you don’t have coarse Dijon you can definitely use regular, though I like the extra texture that the coarse gives to the dressing.

Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

And don’t bother offering to share this with my kids.  At least not this week.

A terrific and festive vegetable salad with loads of color, flavor, and personality.

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Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

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Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

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Green Bean Salad with Clementine Oranges and Feta

5 from 1 vote
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 15 minutes
Servings: 6 People
A great mix of colors, texture, and flavors.

Ingredients 

  • 1 ½ pounds green beans
  • 3 clementines
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
  • 1 tablespoon coarse or regular Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or oregano leaves
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ½ cup crumbled feta

Instructions 

  • Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Drop the beans into the water and let them cook for 3 minutes until they start to become tender. Drain the beans in a colander and run cold water over them to stop the cooking and preserve the color.
  • Peel the clementines and cut each segment in half crosswise. Cut the cooled beans in half cross wise.
  • In a small bowl or container combine the olive oil, vinegar, shallots, mustard, thyme and salt and pepper. Whisk or shake to combine.
  • Place the beans and orange segments in a large bowl and drizzle over the dressing. Toss to combine thoroughly. Add the feta and toss again gently to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Notes

The beans can be cooked and tossed with the dressing up to 2 days ahead of time.  Add the oranges and the feta just before serving.  If you don’t have coarse Dijon you can definitely use regular, though I like the extra texture that the coarse gives to the dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 132kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Sodium: 176mg, Potassium: 324mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 851IU, Vitamin C: 33mg, Calcium: 115mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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