green beans with basil vinaigrette
by Katie Webster
July 22, 2013 (updated 2/10/22) Jump To Recipe
If you are looking for a way to use garden-fresh Green Beans in a summertime way, this recipe for Green Beans with Basil Vinaigrette is a great one to try. Of course, everyone loves our fabulous Skillet Green Beans Recipe, made with garlic and red pepper flakes, but this chilled recipe is great for those hot summer nights when a cool meal is in order!
This is the first year we haven’t belonged to a summer CSA in seven years. That’s because we have a vegetable garden of our own for the first time. I have long been a perennial gardener, but I am pretty clueless when it comes to veggies and fruit. So this past winter I spent hours reading The Vegetable Gardner’s Bible. And attempted to make an informed planting plan.
We have two raised beds, one is 15-feet and the other is 20 feet. We also have another 20-foot bed for vegetables, blueberries and herbs. Which isn’t really a ton of space. But when we were planning it out last fall, I really had no idea what it all was going to mean. I was having a hard time figuring out how much mesclun mix grows in a row that is about 8 feet long.
This spring I bought seeds and got them in between torrential rain storms.
My mom gave me some really sad looking heirloom tomato plants she had grown from seed. I put them in. And I bought some healthier looking ones from a local nursery. I also got some obscure pepper plants and put them in. I have had some happy successes. And some not so great successes (I ended up letting the shelling peas get too tough when I couldn’t get out to harvest them during a busy work week. We ate them anyway. I also let some radishes get waaaaay too tough and spicy. Ugh.) The girls are loving it and have been happy to much raw kale and chives as I’ve been planting, weeding and watering.
We’ve had Spinach, radishes and mesclun mix, baby lettuces, kale, snap peas and shelling peas. We have a ton of herbs. Nasturtiums.
And now finally the green beans are ready!!!!
There’s plenty more stuff coming soon. I will keep you posted don’t worry. But in the meantime enjoy this easy summer-in-your-mouth recipe. Green beans with basil vinaigrette.
More Green Bean Recipes
- Our Roasted Green Beans with Almonds is classic and simple to prepare.
- This guide How To Cook Green Beans is a great way to learn different cooking techniques for this veggie.
- Don’t miss this round-up of Healthy Green Bean Recipes.
- Our Green Bean Casserole with Cheese is a Thanksgiving favorite.
- This Green Bean and Corn Salad is another hot weather dish to prepare this summer.
Thanks for reading. If you make this recipe please leave a star rating and review!
Happy Cooking!
~Katie
Green Beans with Basil Vinaigrette
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
Green beans with basil vinaigrette- a simple summer side dish
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans, stem end trimmed off
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water for an ice bath. Add green beans to the boiling water, stir to submerge and cook until the beans are crisp tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to the ice bath. Let sit in ice bath until chilled, drain and transfer to serving platter.
- Meanwhile, chop garlic. Sprinkle with salt and continue to chop and mash with the side of a chefs knife until it forms a paste. Puree basil, olive oil, vinegar, Dijon and the garlic salt mixture in a blender or mini-prep food processor until smooth.
- Pour dressing over the green beans and grind pepper over to taste.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: SIde dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 68
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 234 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 1 g
Keywords: green beans, chilled green beans,make ahead green beans,green beans and dressing,
Katie Webster
Katie Webster studied art and photography at Skidmore College and is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute. She has been a professional recipe developer since 2001 when she first started working in the test kitchen at EatingWell magazine. Her recipes have been featured in numerous magazines including Shape, Fitness, Parents and several Edible Communities publications among others. Her cookbook, Maple {Quirk Books} was published in 2015. She launched Healthy Seasonal Recipes in 2009. She lives in Vermont with her husband, two teenage daughters and two yellow labs. In her free time, you can find her at the gym, cooking, stacking firewood, making maple syrup, and tending to her overgrown perennial garden.
I am always looking for new recipes to try. I will have to get the ingredients I need to make some this week. I am sure it will be a big hit.
★★★★★
Brought this as a vegetable side dish to a holiday luncheon and it was a huge hit. I added whole cherry tomatoes before drizzling with the vinaigrette to give it a holiday look.
★★★★★
Hi Gina. I am so glad it came out so well! I love the idea of adding cherry tomatoes to it!
green beans with basil vinaigrette
I made this for our church Thanksgiving dinner. I added cooked carrots and used horseradish mustard plus 2 tbs. sugar.
Delicious
I am so glad you came back to report. I love it! I hope everyone enjoyed it. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving and Holidays Nancy!
this is gorgeous, katie!!!
Thanks Regan. I hope you enjoy it;)
is this food suitable for women above 60?
So pretty! I love nasturtiums!!!
Thanks Winnie. That’s a big compliment from such a great photographer like you. My daughters didn’t even blink when I told them they could eat the nasturtiums too:)