Farmers Market Salad
I know the first day of summer isn’t actually until June 20th, but can we pretend? Here in Tennessee we are expecting high temperatures today around 87 degrees Fahrenheit. And after all of these days spent inside, I am really enjoying all of the warm weather, sunshine, and time outside! With thoughts of summertime, family and gathering for meals again, I wanted to share my Farmers Market Salad recipe with you. It is packed with fresh vegetables and dressed with a lemon/feta cheese dressing.
My Farmers Market Salad is so simple to prepare. You only have to “cook” one thing and that is blanching the green beans. You will want to boil some water, drop your prepared beans into the water, cook them for 3-4 minutes, and them drop them into a water bath. (or you can run them under cold water in a colander until the water runs cold).
The Dressing
You actually mix the lemon/feta dressing in the bowl once the vegetables are all assembled. You will want to zest the lemon over the vegetables, juice the lemon over them as well. Then you will add your black pepper and feta cheese then slowly fold all of it together. FETA IS SALTY so wait to add your salt until the end. You can taste the finished salad and decide if it needs more then.
Tools for the Job
You often see me use my microplane and citrus juicer. I would say these two inexpensive kitchen tools get more of a workout in my kitchen than most any other.
I prefer the microplane, available here on Amazon, over other types of zesting tools. The primary reason for this is because it only takes the zest of the citrus fruit (on the first pass over the fruit). Other types of zesters I have used tend to go deeper into the flesh of the skin and capture the pith. That is the part of the flesh that has that soapy taste. And that is not tasty food.
I love my citrus juicer for the simple fact that I can juice many types of fruit and my hands don’t hurt. It helps keep seeds out of my dishes and allows me to get more of the juice out of each piece of fruit. This citrus juicer from Amazon is metal like mine and should last you for many years. I don’t even know how long I have had mine. I do prefer the metal since you have to exert so much force on it to bring forth the Juice!
I had a follower ask about the knife that I used in my FB Live video. I primarly use a 7″ Santuko Knife for my prep chopping in my kitchen. The dimples along the side of the blade help keep the food from sticking to the blade as you work. Amazon has a super deal on a set that has a knife and a sharpener together. I use an identical sharpener on all of my knives in my kitchen in between professional sharpening.
Shortcuts for the Recipe
So, you hate cutting corn off the cob or it is not in season where you live yet. Well, buy frozen corn and use it! The same goes for your green beans. Frozen vegetables are frozen the same day they are picked so they are a great substitute in this salad.
You can also easily double this recipe. And I hope that as our country starts to phase back to social gatherings you have an opportunity to share this wonderful dish with some people that you love!
Farmers Market Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ lb green beans cleaned & cut into ½ inch pieces
- 2 cups corn cut from the cob (4-5 ears)
- 1- pint grape/cherry tomatoes
- 1 medium cucumber cubed
- ½ small red onion diced
- 2-3 green onions chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves cut in a chiffonade
- Juice & zest of one lemon
- ½ tsp salt
- 10 turns of a pepper mill approx. ¼ tsp
- 8 oz crumbled feta cheese
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Fill a medium size sauce pan with water. Cover and bring to a boil. In the meantime, prepare your green beans. If your beans have strings, remove those. Wash and drain your beans. Trim the ends and cut into ½ inch pieces. Once the water has come to a boil. Blanch your beans for 3-4 minutes. Drain beans and drop them into ice water to stop the cooking.
- Carefully remove the corn from the cob.
- In a large serving bowl start mixing your vegetables. Add your green beans, corn tomatoes, cucumber, both types of onion, carrots, zest & juice of lemon. Next add your herbs, salt, pepper, feta, and olive oil.
- Slowly fold all of your ingredients together. The lemon juice, olive oil, and feta cheese will start to blend together as you stir your vegetables. It will create a wonderful dressing for your salad. Adjust your salt and pepper to your preference.
