I keep thinking that someday there are going to be no more new salad recipe ideas, but it never happens. There are always new (and good) ones out there. Amazing! This one has quite a bit of chopping and it’s best to blanch the green beans for about 30 seconds. Blanching veggies is always really cool to me. You can watch them turn a bright green color right before you eyes. I found this technique of putting them in a wire strainer and then just dipping them in a pot of boiling water works well. Then you can do this a couple of times if you have a lot of beans and you can also use the water to cook your pasta that you’re going to eat for dinner.
The original recipe calls for green onions, but I forgot these and didn’t think it ended up needing them. The dressing has a variety of peppers in it (which can be adjusted for your heat tolerance), and also sumac, which adds a lemony/tangy flavor. I just learned that the plant this spice comes from is the same species as poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. The spice, however, does not come from the poison variety.
I was hoping to get to use radishes from my garden, but alas they didn’t grow. I planted seeds probably 3-4 months ago, but these ones just didn’t make it. They sprouted and I got one about the size of a pea. Hopefully I have better luck with the carrots. I planted carnival carrots so I’m excited to see the different colors.
Adapted from smitten kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of green beans, sliced into 1/2″ pieces and blanched
- 1 bunch of radishes, thinly sliced and halved
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced and halved
- 3/4 cup crumbled feta
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and salted
- 3 Tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
- a small head of green leaf lettuce, thinly sliced
Dressing:
- juice from one lime
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- a large pinch of each of the following:
- salt
- pepper
- chile powder
- cayenne pepper
- sumac
Whisk dressing ingredients together. Add salad ingredients to a large bowl. Toss with dressing.
