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Salads don’t have to be cold
This Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad proves that point very nicely. Full of garden fresh veggies, topped with a lively vinaigrette – it’s good eats, summer-style. Our favorite kind of food!
If you don’t have a garden of your own, just about every Farmer’s Market in the country will have all of these veggies right now, so getting ahold of the ingredients won’t be too difficult.
Great for picnics
This would be great to take to a cookout or picnic this weekend because it can served at room temperature and still be perfect. And with the acid of the vinaigrette, it will be safe without refrigeration for the whole afternoon – always a plus for a meal out of doors, where some salads aren’t as safe if they get too warm.
If you prefer your salad cold, that is not a problem, because this Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad is just as good chilled. I often make a big batch of it and store half of it in the fridge for a meal a day or two later. It may need a bit more vinaigrette in that case, but not to worry – this recipe makes extra!
If you’re like me, you save your bacon drippings [the fat that is left over after you fry up some bacon]. But if you don’t save bacon drippings, or if you just don’t eat bacon, olive oil is a fine substitute, as is avocado oil. If you don’t have red onion, a sweet white onion will work fine. In a pinch, you could use frozen green beans, and just cook them a shorter time. Do what you can with what you have – no judgment here!
The Recipe
Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Beans
- 1 pound fresh green beans
- 1 tablespoon bacon drippings [or olive oil]
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5-6 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 small red onion
- 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock or water
- 10 large grape tomatoes cut into quarters, or other tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces.
Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- few grinds fresh black pepper
- a pinch of granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
First, make the vinaigrette so the flavors have time to meld.
- Use a small deep bowl and add the vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar.
- Grate the garlic with a microplane or other fine grater [or mash to a paste]
- Whisk until salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking all the time, until it's all incorporated. Set aside.
- Prepare the beans by trimming the stem ends, washing, and cutting into pieces about 1 & 1/2 inches long. [or leave whole, or cut in longer pieces - it will just take longer to cook]
- Heat a 10 to 12-inch skillet and add bacon drippings.
- When the drippings are melted, raise the heat to high and add the beans and onions. Stir fry for 4 to 5 minutes, until the onions are wilted and the beans take on a little color in spots.
- Lower the heat and add the stock or water and cover tightly - cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid, crank the heat back up to high, and cook, stirring, until stock is cooked away - another 3 to 4 minutes. Beans will still be tender-crisp.
- Stir in tomatoes, heat for about 30 seconds, and turn out into a serving bowl.
- Drizzle with the vinaigrette [you will have some vinaigrette left over] and serve. Can be held at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours if necessary, but after that, refrigerate leftovers, which can be reheated or eaten cold.
The equipment I used in this recipe: All-Clad Stainless Steel Skillet or alternatively, a little less expensive Stainless Steel Skillet by Misen ~ Whisk ~ Microplane ~ and, in case you don’t have an old vinegar bottle, this is a very nice Vinaigrette Bottle
You’re going to get a hint of bacon flavor. This results in a nice balance with the brightness of the vinaigrette. If I were making this very far ahead of serving time, I would probably wait to add the vinaigrette closer to when it will be eaten. This prevents the vinegar from darkening the beans a little bit if it sits too long.
Keep the extra vinaigrette for another use – I save empty vinegar bottles because I can keep stuff like this in them. There is no reason to ever buy bottled dressings. Certainly not when you can make delicious ones so easily. The ones in the store are full of all manner of nasty junk you don’t want to give to your family anyway. I just finished off the vinaigrette leftovers from this post on a tomato, cucumber, avocado, and chickpea salad I had for lunch.
Or, just hang on to it for a couple of days – for the next batch of Warm Green Bean Salad you decide to make!
Love fresh green beans? We have other wonderful recipes! Green Beans with Crispy Leeks is one of my favorites, and we love Green Beans with Miso too.
Cucumber and Avocado Salad with Feta
Green Beans with Crispy Leeks
Grilled Romaine Salad
Garlic Scape Pesto
Warm Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad
Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Goat Cheese Spread with Tomatoes
Kale Walnut Pesto
Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
Kale & Spicy Sausage Soup
This is such a lovely salad! I haven’t made one like this is a long time – and this kind of salad can be so good. Warm salads can be so good. And I love bacon with green beans and tomatoes! Good stuff – thanks.
Thanks John – once in a while I have known to crumble a little bacon over this – it, of course, improves things!
This looks very inviting, and easy to make. Now I just have to find some green beans at the FM this weekend!
They will be worth looking for Brenda and there should be plenty there still.
There is nothing like a good green bean salad…and this looks heavenly. I know I’d be VERY popular if I brought this to the pot luck we’re going to next weekend. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Monet – hope it turns out well for you!
This seems to be the year of super gardens, Donalyn. You can only can or freeze so many beans and this seems a delicious, colorful way to use some up, especially at those family gatherings.
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve enjoyed this already Kathleen – we love it!
I love veggies and vinaigrette too and this salad is right up my alley, especially now that fall has started to make its appearance!
It is definitely a great addition to fall meals Katerina!
I found your website today from Pinterest and I am so glad that I did. You cook the way that I want to feed my family and I’m looking forward to trying a lot of your wonderful recipes. Thanks for all the work you put into making this site pretty and easy to use! -Stace
Why thank you, Stace – I am glad you found me too – enjoy 🙂
Greetings & thanks for sharing this recipe!
this looks amazing!
Love the simplicity!
Thanks Emma!