Green Bean Salad with Red Peppers and Bleu Cheese

 

This is a salad that I often refer to as a “pantry salad” because it is made up of things I tend to always have on hand. It’s colorful, it’s tasty, and considering one of the main ingredients is canned green beans, it’s quite different from the norm. I tend to make my own croutons out of hamburger and/or hotdog buns that I seem to always have left over, but you can certainly use the boxed croutons. I like blue cheese here, but feta or Parmesan work equally well. It’s a snap to put together and needs to be made ahead of time and refrigerated so that everything is nice and cold. With colors like this, it’s perfect for the holidays.

Green Bean Salad with Red Peppers and Bleu Cheese

 2 14.5-oz. cans green beans*

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

½ red onion, thinly sliced

¼ c. Melissa's Fire Roasted Red Peppers, diced

¼ c. blue cheese or Feta crumbles

Homemade croutons (or store bought, if you must)

Raspberry Vinaigrette

 Toss together beans, tomatoes, onion, peppers, and cheese, and refrigerate, covered, for an hour, or up to eight hours. When ready to serve, add croutons and dress with Raspberry Vinaigrette (recipe below).

 *I used one can of cut green beans and one can of French style; you can use any combination that you like.

 Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

 ¼ c. vegetable oil

¼ c. raspberry balsamic vinegar

2 T. grated Melissa’s shallot

1 t. Dijon mustard

1 t. sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients EXCEPT the oil in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until blended. Continue to whisk as you slowly pour in the oil. Whisk until emulsified.  Drizzle over salad.

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