The morning after we arrived home from our vacation, my youngest son bolted out into our backyard. Within moments, I heard him call, “Mum, Mum, come quick! Look, look!” As I tripped out the door, images of dead animals, hills of red ants, and wasp nests immediately sprang to mind. However, when I ran to where my son was standing, he was pointing delightedly at our tomato plant. Indeed, two bright red tomatoes shone out of the depths of the green leaves. Let me tell you, that’s a heck of a lot better than an insect infestation! My son promptly plucked the two tomatoes from the plant and ran inside to place them on his lunch plate. Lucky for me, he was in a sharing mood and decided to pop one into my mouth just as lunch started. As I bit down, the sweet juices burst into my mouth and I was greeted with the true taste of summer. Our appetites were whetted, but our garden had no more tomatoes to offer. Thankfully, the grocery store obliged. Okay, their tomatoes didn’t hold a candle to the ones fresh from our garden, but they were good enough to act as pinch-hitters in this fresh, summer-inspired salad.
Cut 1 pound of cherry, grape, or mini Roma tomatoes in half. Okay, you better make it more than one pound because if you’re anything like me, you’ll pop at least a dozen tomatoes into your mouth before they even hit the bowl.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a bowl and add the green beans. Blanch the beans for 2-4 minutes, depending on the size of your beans. Test them along the way to make sure they don’t become overcooked. You want tender-crisp, with an emphasis on the “crisp”.
Drain the beans and immediately rinse with very cold water. Alternatively, you can dunk them into a bowl of ice water.
Beautiful bright green, aren’t they? A little different than your grandmother’s overcooked, grayish green beans. Well, my grandmother’s beans anyways. I loved my Granmum dearly, but vegetables were not her strong suit. However, she was the only woman I ever knew to nurture an injured baby hummingbird back to health. Pretty cool.
Mix the cooked green beans and the tomatoes together in a large bowl. Nature’s paint palette.
Add 1 cup of bocconcini (mini mozzarella balls) or cut fresh mozzarella into bite-sized pieces.
Drizzle about 3 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil over top and mix gently. The olive oil is the only dressing, so make sure that it’s a top-quality, flavorful olive oil. An aromatic, fruity olive oil can make the difference between a good salad and one that will require a moment of reverential silence.
Roll together 8-10 large basil leaves and chiffonade them (slice thinly). Mix them into the salad. Serve and enjoy the fresh flavors.
Laura says
This looks absolutely delicious, I love green beans and tomatoes.
Bellini Valli says
Exceptional colour and flavours in this seasonal salad.I have some tomatoes growing in a hanging basjet on my patio that are the size of my ponkie fingernail.
Cooking Mama says
Those grape tomatoes are so good! Like candy! When I first saw the picture I thought that was hominy instead of mozzarella. 🙂
Peas And Cukes says
This looks great! I'm always looking for more summer salad recipes and I can't wait to try this one!
finsmom says
OOOOhhhhh! What an awesome sounding recipe! I bet the mozza really kinks it up a notch 🙂 So colorful!
Teanna says
What a beautiful, bright, and summery salad! Absolutely beautiful!
Kalyn says
This sounds great! I just noticed a recipe for tomato and green bean salad in Food and Wine that sounded similar to this.
janet says
Absolutely perfect! Gorgeous photos! I'll have to wait till the farmers market has green beans. The rabbits ate most of my bean plants, so I don't think I'll have any of my own.
nick says
I can't imagine something simpler and more delicious.
How happy were you when you found out it was tomatoes and not the end of the world out there? Never can tell from the excitement level with kids, can you?
Mathilde says
Looks very refreshing, the perfect salad for the summer and I love the combinaison of the colours
applecrumbles says
That salad looks and sounds great. I love basil with my tomatoes. In fact, I can never eat a tomato without it. Right up my alley.
Kristen says
What a great salad – so light and refreshing! I love how excited your son got over the tomatoes… too cute!
Cookin' Canuck says
I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the recipe and photos. My son was thrilled to be featured on the blog.
Kalyn, I'll have to check out that recipe. I love Food & Wine magazine. They always have such innovative ideas and recipes.
Janet, you have rabbits – I have deer. Fun to watch, but they are not friends of my tulips and tomatoes.
Nick, I was certainly imagining the worst and was more than relieved to see that the tomatoes were the source of his excitement.
Alta says
Yum! this looks so fresh and tasty. I think I might have to whip this salad up!
figtree says
Wow those colors in your dish are amazing..someone needs to paint it.. Thanks..I look forward to trying this one!!Figtreeapps
Miranda says
Great recipe. I love fresh ingredients. My daughter is the same way. Everytime she sees a red tomato or a ready pepper.
I have a huge bag of green beans in the frige…Maybe I should try this.
Ruth says
Lovely colours, looks delicious! Glad you didnt see an infestation of insects lol
Chef Fresco says
I love fresh mozzarella! Beautiful color combo!
Laura says
You always make such delicious looking food! Sounds like another winner… 🙂
kiss my spatula says
anything with bocconcini as one of the main ingredients wins a place in my heart!
Angie's Recipes says
The green salad looks terrific!
Angie's Recipes
Mama Mel says
This looks so delicious! And colorful! My son is loving green beans lately, so I'll have to try this sometime. I'm sure we will both love it! 🙂
Jenn says
This is perfect for summer. Plus it's healthy and Delicious!! Just my kind of thing.
Chef E says
I just bought a ton of green beans at the local farmers market, and this would work perfect for me.
Thanks for posting it and what a great colorful photo of the dish too!
s. stockwell says
Easy, crunchy and delicious! We will use this one all summer long. you never disappoint! thanks, s
Laura says
This looks fabulous! I've got a slew of green beans from the backyard garden that I need to use. Thanks for sharing!
redkathy says
This is my favorite way to eat green beans. My grandmother made this exact salad. Wonderful pics!
Gretchen Joanna says
A beautiful dish, and it looks quite do-able, especially since I have at least the two vegetables in my garden this summer. Thanks!
Raquelle says
This was wonderful to make & eat! I added some lemon juice and it was amazing.