This past weekend I took a quick trip to Indiana to surprise my mom for her birthday. It was a huge success in two ways. First, she was surprised; second, I was able to take any and all extra garden goods back with me to my Kentucky kitchen.
Our garden seems to be pouting a bit about the fact that we got it in around 3 weeks later than normal. Peppers and squash are slowly immerging from ours, but my parent’s garden is already flourishing.
This has a lot to do with the greenest thumb that exists in the world. It happens to be attached to my Dad’s hand.
I’m amazed at how tall his pepper plants are, at the diameter of the squash plants and how the cucumbers and melon plants have multiplied since our last visit over Memorial Day.
We opted out of growing our own potatoes this year, so I was happy to take all they had to offer. Kale is still growing strong there so I loaded up on a bag, cleaned the remaining raspberries off the bushes and took all the blackberries that had ripened thus far. We topped that off with a yellow squash and green beans. There were also lots of gooseberries whose recipe destiny I’m still contemplating.
Yesterday evening my husband decided he would try out some pastured pork spare ribs we got on sale from the local meat market. We were interested in tossing on some BBQ and finishing them off on his ceramic grill.
That needed to be matched up with lots of vegetables, so I decided the first of the harvest I’d tackle would be the green beans. We both aren’t raving green bean fans so I needed to find a creative way to cook them. Simply steamed wasn’t going to cut it.
Since just about everything else from the meal was on the grill I thought, why not grill the green beans too. So I slicked them up in some olive oil and my husband tossed them into a grill pan where they stayed for about 7 to 10 minutes. I took them off the grill when they were still firm, but beginning to brown and blister (in a good way).
I wanted to match them up with something slightly cooling to balance the smoky flavor. This sauce made with feta, dill and Greek yogurt was perfect. Not only did it go well with the green beans, but I think it will become my standard veggie dip from here on out.
Grilled Green Beans with Dill Feta Sauce
½ pound green beans, cleaned
Olive oil
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, sliced
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lightly sprinkle the green beans with olive oil and stir to coat. Gently sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place the green beans in a grill pan and grill at about 325 degrees F for 7 to 10 minutes.
In a small food processor, combine the yogurt, feta, dill, chives and lemon juice. Pulse until a creamy sauce forms. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the green beans from the grill, place on a serving platter and top with the feta sauce. Serves 2 to 3.
awesome green bean recipe and wow what bounty from their garden 🙂 I so want to try your pizza
This is a lot of amazingness in one plate. Feta and green beans, grilled with dill? Love it!
Perfect!
Wonderful idea to grill the beans and I love that sauce. I just grilled some asparagus–grilling does such great things to veggies.
I am jealous of all the amazing produce from your parent’s garden. 😉
Hmm. Maybe i need to go visit your parents on stock up on some fresh veggies because your loot looks awesome! That sauce is what’s really luring me in though…the perfect green bean topping!
sounds delicious and the pic of the spare ribs is to die for 🙂
Can’t say that I’ve ever tried grilling green beans, but after seeing this beautiful recipe, I’m going to have to try it this weekend!
And your dad’s garden goodies look so great! He should totally do a guest post on gardening – because I really need to know the secret =)
This is both a creative and convenient idea, and your sauce make it more adorable.
There you go, using that dill! I gotta say, green beans do get the shaft in most preparations. Way to go!
We have a mini grill, so we can’t use one of those grill pans, but my parents use theirs ALL the time – so nice for grilling veggies!
It’s like having your own family farmers market! I am so trying grilling beans as soon as they are available here.
love beans and feta and dill! Great combination.
also, those berries, in one of your photos, gooseberries? They remind me of my childhood.
What a great treatment of greenbeans, they sound so yummy. If I had a plate in front of me, I may not be able to stop eating.
That sauce looks amazing! I don’t grill, and my husband is out of town, but I may try to recreate this on the stove somehow! 🙂
I love the freshness of these ingredients. I’m putting this recipe on my Top Ten Green Bean Recipes blog on A Table in the Sun.