LESLIE BUDEWITZ: The New York Times food writer Sam Sifton says Wednesdays should be no-recipe cooking days, when you get an idea and riff on it, getting creative with what you’re craving or have on hand. I love that approach, though I don’t limit it to Wednesdays!
And sometimes, I have no recipe because my starting point is a photo and description in the NY Times daily food newsletter, which is free to nonsubscribers, but doesn’t include access to the recipes themselves. So I punt. At least one family fave came about that way, our Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella.
This green bean salad had similar origins. The original called for fresh dill, but my plant is new and I didn’t want to sacrifice all those lovely fronds for one dish. My tarragon, on the other hand, was just screaming to be trimmed and enjoyed. I made my Tarragon Vinaigrette, which I’ve shared here in the past but you could just as easily use fresh dill and a standard vinaigrette of your choice.
Another note: I used frozen green beans because that’s what I had, but I think fresh would be even better. My amounts are approximate. If you’re concerned about turning on the oven because of hot weather, a toaster oven is a good alternative. But toasting doesn’t take long. You could also add cooked seasoned shrimp, or even golden raisins.
That’s the thing about a no-recipe recipe: It can be anything your little mouth desires.
Enjoy!
PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing.
Scroll down to the 💕 for the link.
Green Bean Salad with Feta, Almonds, and Herbed Vinaigrette
1/4 sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
1 pound green beans, fresh or frozen
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup fresh herbs, such as dill or tarragon
1/4 cup vinaigrette, or more to taste
OR in place of the herbs and vinaigrette, 1/4 cup Tarragon Vinaigrette, or more to taste.
Heat oven to 300 and toast almonds, about 10 minutes. Remember that nuts will continue to cook and brown after they are removed from the oven.
Cook the green beans until tender-crisp. Drain and rinse to cool and stop the cooking. Slice the red onion and combine with the green beans. Add the almonds, feta, and vinaigrette.
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| So, I forgot to take pics as I made the dressing and assembled the salad, but figured I'd use shots from the original vinaigrette recipe. Turns out I forgot to take a picture then, too! I rarely do that, and twice? Must be something about tarragon . . . |
Toss to coat and serve.
Serves 4 as a side salad.
What herbs are you loving right now? As you can see from my photo above, herbs are perfect for pots for a deck garden, whether you've got a plot of land or not!
At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .
Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills.
Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket.
Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf.
As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?
ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook
Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.
“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary
Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently
Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are
To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and
All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for
Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.
A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine.
Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.
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