Potato Green Bean Salad

This potato green bean salad is super easy and perfect for summer barbecues and parties.  Warm potatoes are tossed with a tangy red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh herb vinaigrette.  It can be made ahead of time and will still be just as good.  The best part about this recipe is that you only need a few ingredients! 

This summer Italian-style potato salad pairs well with so many dishes.

Serve it with some Italian chicken cutlets for a full meal all year long. 

Or during the summer when you're grilling it's great with these rosemary grilled pork chops, Italian dressing grilled chicken thighs, or prosciutto stuffed steak pinwheels.

You'll need potatoes, green beans, red onion, cherry tomatoes, parsley, basil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper for this Italian green bean salad.  Super simple ingredients!

If you like more string beans or tomatoes, or maybe different herbs,  feel free to add them.  Use the detailed recipe below as a general guide and feel free to make changes if you desire.

How to make Italian green bean potato salad

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Start by cleaning the green beans and snapping off the stem edge.  They snap off pretty easily, but you can also use a knife.
2. Slice 1 medium red onion into thin slices as shown.  Finely chop a ¼ cup of fresh parsley and a ¼ cup of fresh basil.   Slice the cherry tomatoes in half.

3. Clean and chop the potatoes into fairly large pieces.  About 1 ½" cubes or slightly larger is fine.  The measurement is not critical.
4. Bring a salted (2 Tbsp kosher salt) pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes.  Boil the potatoes until almost fork tender.  This should take about 7-10 minutes.
5. While the potatoes are boiling make the vinaigrette.  In a large bowl whisk together a ½ cup olive oil, ½ cup red wine vinegar, the herbs, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp kosher salt, and a ¼ tsp black pepper.
6. Add the onions into the vinaigrette and set it aside.

7. After the potatoes have been boiling for about 7-9 minutes add the green beans into the water so that they both finish cooking at the same time.
8. Remove the green beans with a slotted spoon, then drain the potatoes.  Note: You can run the green beans under cold water to stop the cooking and keep them crunchy.  If you don't they will get softer.  Totally a personal preference.  Whisk the vinaigrette one last time, then add the warm potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat.  They will absorb all the flavors this way.

Next, add the green beans, toss, then plate.  Taste test and adjust salt and pepper if required.  Finally, add the cherry tomatoes on top.

And that's how to make an easy Italian green bean potato salad.  You can add some more basil and parsley for garnish at this point.  

Substitutions and additions

• Bacon - Use a half-pound of crumbled cooked bacon.  Toss it in right at the end with the tomatoes.
• More herbs - Fresh oregano or other herbs like rosemary can be added.  Use what you like!
• Greens - Kale and spinach both work quite well.  Substitute the greens for the string beans or add them to the recipe.  For the kale, add it to the pot during the last 3 minutes of cooking.  For the spinach (use baby), place it into the bottom of the vinaigrette bowl and let the warm potatoes wilt it with their residual heat.

Tips

• Use any type of potato you like.  Yukon gold was used in the pics, but new or fingerling potatoes would work nicely as well.  The potatoes should be almost fork tender.  Basically, still a tiny bit firm, if they are too soft they will get mushy when mixed with the vinaigrette.  Don't worry though, cook it to your preference, no doubt some people like the potatoes in this salad on the soft side.
• Toss the warm potatoes into the vinaigrette to achieve maximum flavor.  The warm potatoes will soak up and absorb the oil and vinegar much better this way.
• Adding the tomatoes at the end helps avoid them breaking down from the hot potatoes.

More Italian summer salads

• Bow tie pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes 
• Chilled Broccoli and Lemon Salad
• Chicken pesto pasta salad
• Orange and fennel salad
• Roasted fig salad with gorgonzola
• Italian Pasta Salad
• Chickpea arugula salad with shaved parmesan
• Spinach Gorgonzola Pasta Salad

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