Green Bean Salad with Major Grey’s Vinaigrette
Damn those New Year’s resolutions. Miles to go before we sleep and pounds to lose before I eat.
Salads can correct our wayward course of over-sweeting during the holidays. We eat a lot of greens, so a vegetable salad is a nice change. As well, it tends to be more filling. So, I thought that I’d share this green bean salad and dressing. It’s pretty special.
The genesis of the Major Grey’s dressing is a brown rice salad that we have been enjoying for years. Our friend Erin brought a rice salad to a get-together. Everyone raved. She pointed to a simple recipe called “Mum’s Bombay Rice Salad” on the Internet. Google that one and give it a shot. The key flavors in the dressing are yellow curry and Major Grey’s Chutney.
I started playing with that dressing and discovered that changing the curry to prepared mustard with a dash of apple cider vinegar yielded a wonderfully sweet and tart concoction that is perfect for vegetable salads.
The chutney’s predominant flavors are mango and lime, along with a wonderful mix of spices, and the sweetness is subtle once blended with olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. I had trouble finding Major Grey’s chutney at Wally World recently, but they’ve been rearranging everything, so perhaps it will reappear at some point. Our locally owned grocery carries a version in the sauces section, so I bet you can find it at your local store, too.
Of course, this dressing and the salad ingredients are flexible to your tastes! I need to try it on a broccoli salad. I am sure that would be delicious, too. But you do you.
Enjoy …
Green Bean Salad with Major Grey’s Vinaigrette
Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
3 TB Major Grey’s Chutney
1 TB prepared mustard (I use sweet and hot)
1 TB apple cider vinegar
½ lemon, juiced
Salad
1 ½ - 2 lbs. green beans, washed and snapped
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes (not packed in oil like Bella Sun Luci)
OR dried cranberries
½ cup onion, diced (sweet or red)
½ cup red bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup almonds, slivered or sliced
½ cup feta cheese (optional)
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
Salt, to taste
Directions
Prep your green beans – rinse and snap off the ends and then snap into 2-3 inch pieces. Boil for about 8 minutes until crisp-tender. Drain and run under very cold or ice water to stop the cooking process.
Whisk olive oil, chutney, vinegar, mustard, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt.
In a large bowl, toss all remaining ingredients except bacon and feta cheese with the dressing. Salt to taste (it will take more than you think). Refrigerate for at least two hours, then sprinkle with cheese and bacon before serving.