Green Bean Salad with Feta & Olives

In these transitional weeks between summer and fall, I like to use the fresh beans in the market in this tangy salad, introduced to me by Laura Chenel of goat cheese fame.

Green Bean Salad with Feta & Olives

serves 4-6 servings

1 pound fresh green beans, washed and stem ends trimmed off and discarded

8 ounces sheep or goat feta (I like Marin Cheese Company’s sheep feta)

1/2 cup favorite olives (I like oil cured black olives or Kalamatas), pits removed if desired

The vinaigrette:

1 shallot, finely diced

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1. Have a large bowl of ice water at hand. Bring a saucepan of water to boil and add a scant tablespoon of salt. Add the green beans and blanch until just barely tender, 3 - 5 minutes. Drain the beans and immediately place them in the ice water bath to stop the cooking and preserve their beautiful green color. Let the beans stay in the ice water a few minutes, then drain and dry on a clean kitchen towel.

2. Toss the beans with the olives and your desired amount of vinaigrette (if you don’t want to use the whole amount, you can save any leftover vinaigrette for another salad). Crumble the feta in large pieces over the beans and toss very gently. Serve or store in refrigerator until ready to serve. This salad is best served the day it is made, but keeps nicely up to 2 days.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• For the beans, be inspired by what you see in the market. I sometimes mix yellow wax beans with the green beans.
• If you like your vinaigrette less tart, use up to a tablespoon more olive oil.

Farro

Farro is an ancient variety of wheat, usually sold and prepared with its whole grain intact, meaning you are eating the grain kernel plus its bran and germ -- a great way to get fiber and lots of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, good-for-you “plant chemicals” that may help to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. Farro is cultivated in the Garfagnana region of Tuscany and in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is softer and faster cooking than spelt, another ancient variety of wheat.

Farro

makes 3 cups cooked, approximately 4-6 servings

1 1/2 cups farro

6 cups water

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Bring water to boil in a large saucepan. Sprinkle in the salt and the farro. Cook until farro is tender, start testing at 15 minutes. You want the farro grains to be chewy, but not hard.

2. Drain out the water, season and serve (see Kitchen Coach tips below) or let cool and store in refrigerator until ready to eat another time or use in a recipe. The cooked farro will keep up to a week.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• I love browned butter and sage and farro is fabulous heated up with these ingredients. Melt the butter and cook until golden brown, add the cooked farro, some sage (fresh or even dried works pretty well) and cook on the stovetop over medium-high heat until farro is hot. The grains start to get a delicious crunchy outside, but keep their chewy center. Serve with roasted winter squash (like Kabocha, see my recent posting), nuts and/or some salty cheese like sheep milk feta or ricotta salata.

• Use the cooked farro in cold grain salad recipes -- rice and wheatberry salad ideas are plentiful in cookbooks and on the web.

• You can also turn this cooked farro into a fabulous risotto-type dish, which is how I was introduced to the grain -- by Joyce Goldstein back in 2001. I will post it this week -- see “Farro with Butternut Squash and Chestnuts”.

Kabocha Squash

Does the thought of a long cooking time scare you off from buying those alluring, yet intimidatingly hard winter squash? Don't let it keep you away any longer. I find the small, green Kabocha to be especially friendly -- quick to cook, rich and creamy without being too sweet or too bitter...just right. Toss a couple into your market basket with confidence and make yourself some good for you comfort food.

They key is to prepare the squash when you do have some time, especially when you already have the oven heated up for something else. Once the squash is cooked, you can use it anytime up to 3 or 4 days later. Cooked squash in the fridge can turn into a creamy squash soup, squash stuffed with chestnuts and farro, or simple carmelized squash slices, in no time.

Kabocha Squash

serves 2 - 4

1 Kabocha squash, rinsed with water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the stem end off the squash with a sharp chef’s knife. Microwave the squash for 30-60 seconds to soften slightly, then cut it in half and remove and discard the seeds.

2. Place each squash half, cut side down, in a glass or ceramic baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, until tender. Season and serve (see Kitchen Coach tips below) or let cool and store in refrigerator until ready to eat another time or use in a recipe.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• Kabocha squash falls somewhere between the acorn and butternut squashes in terms of sweetness level. It also cooks a bit more rapidly due to its softer texture. It is great pureed in soups or left in halves and stuffed with a whole grain melange, like wild rice or farro mixed with toasted nuts.

• Whenever you are using the oven to roast a chicken or something else that takes some time, pop in a squash so that you can have it roasted and ready to use -- either that same night or 3 - 4 nights down the road. Meals almost make themselves if you have the component parts made in advance and waiting in the fridge.

• My favorite way to enjoy the Kabocha this week has been to brown some butter, add a cup of cooked farro, some sage and cook until the farro is hot. I warm up a squash piece then fill with the farro and top with a few crumbles of sheep milk feta and some sea salt. Toasted pine nuts or pecans are gilding the lily, but do take a simple but great dish to fabulous. Have fun winging it.