Monday, August 24, 2009

White Bean Salad with Zucchini, Green Beans, and Tomatoes



We didn't plant a big garden this year, but our friend has been sharing his garden goods with us. He brought over zucchini and green beans the other day. I made zucchini bread and created a new salad.

I love salads anytime of the year, but especially in the summer when it is hot and the produce is at it's peak. For this salad, I sauted zucchini and green beans in a tiny bit of olive oil. I didn't cook them for long because I wanted them to be crisp. I added white beans-a great source of protein, and tomatoes. I gave the veggies a nice splash of fresh lemon juice. To top things off, I threw in some fresh basil and Parmesan cheese too!


This is one of my new favorite salads. It is super simple, tasty, and good for you!


White Bean Salad with Zucchini, Green Beans, and Tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans (white beans), drained and rinsed
Olive oil

1 zucchini, chopped

1 cup fresh green beans, remove the ends

2-3 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Juice of one lemon

Parmesan cheese-just guess on the amount

Coarse salt and ground pepper


In a small sauce pan, heat up the olive oil and sauté the zucchini and green beans. Don’t overcook them. You want the vegetables to be crisp.

In a medium bowl, place cannellini beans, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese; season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

53 comments:

  1. Yummy! That looks great. It's fun to find different salads that aren't all lettuce based. Great as sides or for a light lunch.

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  2. This salad looks delicious. So colorful and healthy looking, I can't wait to give it a try.

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  3. How beautiful. What colors.

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  4. Fresh-from-the-garden produce is the BEST part of summer; your salad looks delicious!

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  5. Some of the most simpliest of veggies paired with basic dressings make the best meals I find. One of the main reasons I love spring/summer.

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  6. LOOKS DELICIOUS! this is my kind of salad too!

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  7. Mmm, love the colors! And someone just gave me a zucchini, so now I know what to do with it. :-)

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  8. This is my kind of salad, looks delicious!

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  9. Beautiful salad! I'm always a fan of lettuce-less salads.. and this one looks delicious!

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  10. Simple, fresh and fabulous! I have most of these ingredients on hand- I may try this in the next few days ;)

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  11. Great salad. I just love all the fresh produce in the summer.

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  12. Love all the colors!!

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  13. Lovely and summery. I just wish we were getting the summery weather with it!!

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  14. perfect for summer, for sure! Great, simple salad.

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  15. What a great, light summer salad! Makes me want to plant my own garden!

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  16. This is wonderful -really healthy and tasty, so colourful.

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  17. Yum! looks wonderful and a great way to use fresh veggies!

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  18. One great big bowl of garden! It looks fantastic!

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  19. Very appetizing and delicious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  20. it looks so refreshing and simple too. Gotta love the simple during the summer.

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  21. Very colorful salad...so fresh! it looks delish!

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  22. Anonymous11:41 AM

    That looks so yummy! I have all the ingredients but the green beans, so hopefully I can find some at the farmer's market.

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  23. That looks tasty and vibrant!

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  24. That does look tasty, and healthy too. My daughter would love it.

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  25. So nice to see others sharing their garden bounty! Im thankful for all that people give us too! This salad looks SOOO good! Vibrant and fresh!

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  26. It looks so beautiful and so refreshing. I could dig this with a glass of white wine :)

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  27. Yum! I have all those things from the farmer's market. Well, okay, not the beans or cheese.

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  28. This looks really great and it's a perfect time of year for this kind of dish and recipe. Can't wait to try it.

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  29. Yum, your salad looks perfect for summer! I love how colorful and healthy it is - great job :)

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  30. What a beautiful and tasty salad. I love having neighbors that share the bounty from their garden.

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  31. What a beautiful, colorful salad!

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  32. Love the colors and the freshness of this salad.

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  33. yum! i have never thought to pair parm with string beans...

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  34. Looks fabulous! We are experiencing vegetable overload too. My mother in law just came to visit and she brought a dozen and a half of sweet corn, a bunch of fresh green peppers, 3 zucchinis, 2 melons and a ton of tomatoes! To top it off, I visited my friend the farmer today to pay him for my beef and he hand picked 2.5 dozen sweet corn to give to me! I'll be blanching like crazy tomorrow :)

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  35. Your salad is so colorful and pretty! I bet it tastes as good as it looks! Yes the tomatoes in the garden are all getting ripe,I'm experiencing tomato overload!!

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  36. his looks so good! Simple, fresh, healthy, and filling. Yum!!

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  37. YUM. I love this salad.

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  38. what a great friend :) this salad looks fantastcic!

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  39. what a wonderfully healthy dish! excellent garden goodie usage, maria.

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  40. I planted a big garden and now I am trying to unload lot of garden stuff. Although it is all starting to die out :-( Makes me a sad panda.

    Hopefully more green beans will be popping up here soon as the fall crops start coming available. Miss them so much.

    Nicely done!

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  41. I can see why this is a favorite salad! I love all the ingredients - white beans included - and the flavoring sounds so summery good!

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  42. Anonymous6:53 AM

    beautiful... :D

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  43. mmmm, summer on a plate, i love all the bright colors. looks fantastic!

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  44. wow, look at all those colors. looks great!

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  45. What a beautiful salad! I have all of these so I am definitely making this with dinner tonight.

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  46. Wow, so simple--yet it looks so good! I love this idea!

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  47. Yum - what a delicious summer salad! And how lucky you are to have a friend with such a lovely garden who sahres his produce.

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  48. Maria,
    This is my kind of summer salad!

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  49. I bean salads, I eat them all the time and have made something like this many time. Although I usually steam the veggies... I will have to try sauteing them. I'm sure it gives them much better flavor!

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  50. WOW!! This looks AWESOME!!!

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  51. Wow, it's funny how we're conversing in our yahoo group and I didn't realize that this was your blog. It's gorgeous, by the way! This salad looks yummy. Wish I was eating that for lunch today!

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  52. This looks sooo good! I can't wait to try it!

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  53. what a great end of summer harvest recipe. We are going to have to try it this weekend.

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