Gotta Try That! Green Beans and Beets with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

Last week I had a bag of green beans in my vegetable crisper and no thoughts about what to do with them, Naturally I started wandering around in food blog land and found this lovely recipe for green beans with a lemon mustard dressing over at From the kitchen of a captious vegetarian. As I also had a couple of beets rolling around in the crisper (left over from my experiments with Beet Risotto) I was very pleased to see that the captious vegetarian sometimes substitutes beets for green beans in this recipe. A green bean and beet salad was obviously meant to be.

Interestingly, the captious vegetarian notes that, while she loves the dish, she's gotten so-so reviews on it. I honestly don't see why-- the dressing perfectly compliments both the green beans and the beets, and the way the thin slices of onion are prepped makes them almost taste pickled. It's perfect in my book. Thanks to the captious vegetarian for the inspiration and recipe!

Green Beans and Beets with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette
serves 4 as a starter

1 small red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp salt (too much?)
pinch freshly milled black pepper
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 pound of green beans, trimmed
1 medium-sized beet

Scrub the beet, cut it into quarters, and wrap it loosely in foil. Roast in the oven at 450F for about 30  minutes, or until it is tender.

Place the thinly sliced onion in a bowl and cover the slices with boiling water. Let sit about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, blanch the green beans in boiling water (about 4 minutes) and then plunge them into cold water.

Drain the onions and toss them with the salt, pepper and vinegar.

When the beet quarters are cool enough to handle, remove the skin and cut each quarter into thin slices.

Make the vinaigrette, whisking all of the ingredients together:

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Drain the onions once again, squeezing them dry. Toss half of the onions with the green beans and half of them with the beet slices. Assemble the salad by placing the green beans and sliced beets on a platter.  Pour the dressing over the top and let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Comments

[Deeba]

Award for you dear Ann...& this green sounds yum. I think I have everything but the beets...will give ita shot soon. Just off Maries' blog & she's posted a green bean side dish too! YAY for blogland...& thanks for being part of it! Lol

[Tartelette]

Excellent! Always on the lookout to dress up veggies!

[Deborah]

I love all of those colors!

[adele]

This looks colorful and tasty. I haven't been eating enough vegetables lately - maybe I should see if the supermarket has any decent green beans.

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

Love the color combination of the beans and beets. I tend to prepare beets the same old way every time, so I'm always looking for new ideas.

[Zenchef]

This is giving me a great idea!! Why don't we start hosting underground dinner parties for 70 people from your apartment??!!.. eh?

I feel...i feel like you don't share my enthusiasm...

[Pasticcera]

Looks delish.

[Johanna]

what a delicious and colourful salad - and I love the idea of soaking the onion in water for 15 minutes - I don't like raw onion in salads but maybe I could try this next time

[RecipeGirl]

Anything with beets looks completely delicious to me!

[Cakespy]

This looks absolutely perfect! I love the pure taste of veggies, and this vinaigrette looks like it works with them, not a mask (like so many sauces are with veggies!). Yum. Beautiful too!

[Manggy]

Thanks for the recipe, Ann! That vinaigrette looks like I could put it on everything :P```

[Ann]

Deeba, thank you so much for thinking of me! I'm truly honored.

Tartelette, ooh... lovely to see you here! This is such a nice make-ahead recipe...

Deborah, thanks! Me too!

adele, it's a nice warm weather salad, for sure.

Lydia, I like the drama involved in the colors, too. :-)

Zenchef, aren't you the jokester! Still, this is one of those easy make-ahead dishes... :-)

Marla, thanks!

Johanna, soaking the onion mellows it... but leaves it still a bit crunchy. They end up tasting almost pickled, which I really like.

RecipeGirl, me too!

Cakespy, thanks! It's pretty tasty.

Manggy, well... almost anything! :-)

[myfrenchkitchen]

I love beands and I love beets and what can be better than a lemon mustard!
Ronell

[Meg Wolff]

Your vinaigrette recipe looks great! Thank you.

[Lori]

Love beets, fabulous combination. This is a definite one to try.