Green Bean Salad

Crispy green beans in a honey mustard vinaigrette with sliced almonds.  A simple and quick vegetable side for any meal.

 

Repost of original from 3/25/13 190 views.  Added tweet-ables, pinnable image, follow my pinterest board, and minor editing.

This is one of my favorite ways to eat green beans.  I don't care for canned green beans that end up mushy and have no texture.  I first had this salad at my sister-in-laws' and I fell in love.  The green beans are only slightly blanched (steaming works too) so they are cooked yet still crisp.  Then tossed in a honey mustard vinaigrette with sliced almonds for more crunch.  You can top this salad with crispy fried onions or shallots for more crunch and more flavor, but it is fine without.

Say no to mushy green beans. #GreenBean #Salad  [Tweet this]

I love this recipe as a Thanksgiving side dish.  It's a great, lighter way to enjoy green beans instead of the usual green bean casserole. It's also great because you can make it the day before and store in the fridge until dinner time. This frees up time and cooking space on Thanksgiving day.

Save time with this #ThanksgivingSide: #GreenBean Salad  [Tweet this]

Green Bean Salad

Cook time:  under 10 minutes
Servings:  3-4

Ingredients:

1 pound green beans, snapped
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 hand full sliced almonds
Crispy fried onions or shallots (optional)

Blanch the green beans.  Toss the beans in a large pot of salted, boiling water and stir for 1-3 minutes.  Remove the beans and immediately place in ice water (sometimes I just rinse under cold running water) to stop the cooking.

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette.  Mix the mustard, honey, vinegar, and olive oil in a glass jar with a lid.  Shake to combine.

Pour the vinaigrette over the beans and toss until coated (use as much or little as you like).  Add the almonds and mix.  Top with fried shallots or onions if desired.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Makes 3-4 servings.  Serve cold or at room temperature (I served this with my Pineapple Pork Chops it also makes a great #Thanksgivingside).

Enjoy.

For more vegetable sides check out:

Spicy Edamame     -

Baked Potato Salad   -

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

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Pineapple Salad

A refreshing, sweet and spicy salad made with pineapple, mint, and jalapeno.

 

Pineapples are not only delicious but packed with vitamin C.  Since moving to Hawaii I have started eating a lot of pineapples.  They are easy to find, inexpensive, and usually fresh (here at least).  I usually just cut the pineapple into bite sized pieces and eat them plain, but I wanted to try something different to go with my Pineapple Pork Chops.  Here is my creation.

Ingredients:

2 cups diced pineapple
1 jalapeno
1/2 cup chopped mint
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup olive oil
juice from 1 lime

In a food processor combine jalapeno (you may want to remove the seeds because I left them in and it was a bit too spicy for me), mint and sugar.  Pulse until finely minced, then add lime juice and slowly pour in olive oil while processor is on in order to emulsify the mixture.

In a large bowl combine pineapple and onion, toss to mix.  Then pour on the dressing and stir until combined. Makes 4 servings.  Serve cold or at room temperature with any meal or eat as a snack.  Also tastes great atop a green salad.

Enjoy.

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Pineapple Pork Chops

Breaded pork chops topped with pineapples and baked until golden.  Served with pineapple sweet and sour dipping sauce.

When I was growing up, my favorite way to have pork chops was a recipe my mom had for peachy pork chops.  That recipe used canned peaches and shake n bake.  This recipe is reminiscent of my old favorite but uses fresh pineapple, which is very easy to find here in Hawaii, for a Hawaiian flare. 

Ingredients:

3 porkchops
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup pineapple puree
3 pineapple rings


Soak the pork chops in the pineapple puree (pineapple juice would work too if you use canned pineapple, I just pureed some of the fresh pineapple) for a couple of minutes while preparing the bread crumbs.

Place the bread crumbs in a large bag (I used plain bread crumbs so I seasoned them with about 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp thyme,  salt and pepper to taste).

Coat the pork chops on all sides with the puree, and drop one at a time into the bread crumbs and shake.  Shake until the pork chop is thoroughly coated in bread crumbs.  Then shake off excess crumbs and place on a baking sheet (a broiler pan or a rack on the baking sheet is a good idea to keep the crust crispy, I made a makeshift wavy pan with aluminum foil so excess juice would drip away from the chops).  Repeat with each pork chop.

Lay a piece of pineapple on top of each pork chop and bake in a 400F oven for 40-50 minutes.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce and sides of your choice (I served with roasted potatoes and carrots, green bean salad, and pineapple salad).

Pineapple sweet and sour sauce:

1/2 cup pineapple puree
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan over low heat.  Cover until heated through, then pour into individual bowls for dipping.

Enjoy

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