A fresh snap bean salad that includes green and yellow wax beans with a perky dill vinaigrette ~ summer sides don’t come any better!
dilly bean salad is a back pocket recipe
This Dilly Bean Salad is what I call a back pocket recipe ~ the kind of recipe you can call up when you stumble across a great ingredient like fresh summer beans. Back pocket recipes are simple, and focus on the main ingredient so you never have to pass up a great opportunity simply because you have no idea what to do with it. I mean, how often does life throw you fabulous wax beans? Don’t miss out.
Here’s what you need to know about dilly bean salad
- pretty: we eat with our eyes and this will be the first thing you go for on your paper plate.
- crunchy: I blanche the beans for 60 seconds in boiling water just to bring out their color and flavor, it takes the raw edge off while keeping them super crunchy.
- dilly: dill and beans belong together so I’ve taken the classic combo from your favorite jarred dilly beans and supersized it into a side dish.
- healthy: fresh green beans + heart healthy olive oil means you can eat as much as you want.
ingredients for dilly bean salad
- fresh green and/or yellow wax beans
- young slender beans are best for eating raw (or almost raw) in this salad. Smaller, younger beans are generally more tender and have a sweeter flavor. As they mature, their sugar content decreases and they become starchy and more fibrous. So when it comes to beans, slender = tender.
- shallot
- I love some sort of allium presence in most of my salads, and for this one, shallot fills the bill. It adds a nice bite without overwhelming.
related: Refrigerator Dilly Beans
dill vinaigrette
Dilly bean salad calls for a dill based dressing, and I love to process fresh herbs into my vinaigrettes, the flavor payoff is huge (think Green Goddess Dressing.)
- olive oil
- fresh dill
- lemon
- honey
- garlic
- Dijon mustard
- I use a grainy Dijon mustard, I love those seeds!
- salt
This dill vinaigrette recipe is a gift. So simple and so vibrant, and you’ll use it again and again. After dilly bean salad try it with tender new potatoes for a fresh take on potato salad. Drizzle it over roasted asparagus or carrots. Mix with mayo for a slaw dressing, or use it to dress other bean salads like Mediterranean Bean Salad or Tuna and White Bean Salad. Use the same formula for other herbs like basil, oregano, or tarragon.
variations on snap bean salad
Slice the beans into 2 inch pieces instead of keeping them whole.
Substitute basil for dill.
Use slivers of red onion instead of shallots.
Additions for your dilly bean salad
- halved cherry tomatoes
- sliced olives
- capers
- a third bean like kidney or garbanzo
- halved tiny new potatoes
- toasted almonds
- crumbled feta or goat cheese
- canned tuna
if you love dilly bean salad you’ll also love…
- Snap Pea Salad
- Japanese Cucumber Salad (Sunomono)
- Avocado Salad with Herbs
- Summer Vegetable Salad
- Corn and Cucumber Salad
- Broccoli Honeycrisp Slaw
- French Carrot Salad
Dilly Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb green and yellow string beans, stem ends trimmed ~ leave the pointy ends intact.
- 1 small shallot, minced
dill vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup dill fronds
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil. Set up an ice bath.
- When the water is at a rolling boil, drop the beans into the pot and set a timer for one minute (don't wait for the water to come back to a boil.) When the timer goes off, drain the beans and plunge into the ice bath. Once the beans are cool, remove them to dry on a clean kitchen towel.
- Make the dressing in a small food processor: put all the ingredients into the bowl and process until smooth. Taste the dressing and adjust as you like.
- Put the dried off beans in a mixing bowl with the minced shallots. Toss with the dressing (you may not need all of it.)
- Chill the salad until ready to serve.
- Note that olive oil can solidify when refrigerated. If so, leave the salad at room temperature for 15 minutes or so to allow it to return to tis liquid state.
