Every year for Christmas, my Canadian grandmother makes these. Since she now resides in the United States, she must have the Roger’s syrup supplied to her; however, white granulated sugar can be used in its place.
| Prep Time: | 17 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 3 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 12 cherry tomatoes
- salt and black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 bay leaf, crumbled
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ⅔ pound thin green beans, trimmed
- 1 (5 ounce) package arugula leaves
- 6 fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 6 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C).
- Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, and arrange them, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and the bay leaf; drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil.
- Bake the tomatoes until they are shriveled and dry on the outside, but a little moist inside, about 2 hours.
- Toast the pine nuts in a small pan over medium-low heat, gently shaking the pan as they toast, until beginning brown and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes; set aside.
- Bring a saucepan of water to a boil; cook the green beans in the boiling water until bright green but still crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water.
- Combine the roasted tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, green beans, arugula, and basil in a salad bowl. Whisk together the red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, and 1/4 cup olive oil in a bowl, and pour the dressing over the salad. Stir in the crumbled feta cheese just before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 448 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 12 g |
| Cholesterol | 38 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 823 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 41 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Very tasty. I didn’t blanch the beans, but roasted them in the olive oil for about 3 minutes, might do it longer next time. I’ll make it again while all these things are ripe in the garden at the same time!
This was yummy, all my favorites, pine nuts arugula and feta! I did make some minor changes, I did not roast the tomatoes and left out the bay leaf, and I added a little more vinegar than specified. Thanks for your recipe.
We loved this salad/side dish. I will definitely make it again.
Excellent, fresh, crisp and tasty salad…I followed the recipe as written (short of adding extra roasted tomatoes and crumbled feta) and my husband absolutely loved the dressing. I’ve since made it both as a side and a main love it either way. Thank you for the submission.
Since I had plenty of tomatoes in my garden I simply diced them and didn’t bother to roast them. I added sliced red onion, and diced left over chicken, which I coated in the amazing dressing first. I didn’t have red wine vinegar so I subbed “Black Mission Fig” vinegar from Olivia’s Oils. Also used a combo of dijon and grainy mustard. Used spinach instead of arugula. Skipped the nuts. This was unbelievably delicious. Definitely making again.
We loved this salad even though I overcooked the beans. Be sure to leave them crispy. I don’t think it’s worth roasting the tomatoes for 2 hours especially in the summer when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen. I just used cherry tomatoes and they were great. Or use sundried.
This is a great recipe! What a great combination of flavors:) I made just as described but used 2 pints of cherry tomatoes (love tomatoes) 1/2 c. roasted sliced almonds and added 5 oz. of baby spinach. My daughter insisted that I make this again tomorrow. It’s that good.
Made this tonight sans the pine nuts (not a big fan) and it was excellent. Plan to use the dressing on other salads in the future!!
Loved this salad!
This salad was yummy and I will be fixing it often. Took the easy way out and used moist sun dried tomatoes found in a package ( 2 hr cooking time is too long for me) Used baby greens instead of arugula. The dressing was perfect and can be made ahead of time Everyone loved it!! Thank you for the recipe!
I followed the advice of some of the other reviwers and cut down on the feta and garlic. This was a BIG hit with my husband! easy to prepare ahead of time especially if you roast the tomatoes and the pne nuts early and then just throw everything together before serving. Will definitely make again!
What a random collection of ingredients! They come together so well and the salad is just delightful. I found the dressing a bit thick so I added a T of water to it and cut the garlic to one clove. I added some chicken tenders seasoned with Italian seasoning and it made for a filling main dish. I took the advice of others and did a full pint of cherry tomatoes but the cook time was closer to 3 hrs. I am not sure the pine nuts were necessary as they got lost in the other ingredients. If you are looking for some crunch, you might need to choose a larger nut. I’ll be making this again.
I was getting a little burnt out on salad, until this came along!!! Great flavor combo, and the dressing was wonderful. I cut back on the feta after reading the reviews, and added maybe 3oz which I think was a good call. Other then that, followed recipe as stated and loved it. Thank you Andypoc!!
This was excellent! I loved the sweetness of the tomatoes. I used asparagus instead of green beans, and they worked well. The only change I’d make next time is to use more tomatoes and less feta (the feta was good, but overall it added a bit too much tang to the salad for my taste).
Okay, I didn’t have green beans, didn’t have feta. Made this with roasted asparagus and brie…..this was to die for! I can’t imagine it could be more delicious with the green beans and feta….we were fighting over the left overs (teenage boys if that tells you how good this was). I grilled chicken marinated in this dressing and the whole thing was served warm. Will be making this again and again!
Restaurant quality, delicious! Thank you!
I made this for a pot luck, which i was told to make an italian salad… i am a very picky eater, have the taste buds of a 12 year old. i live off pizza and chicken fingers. I don’t ever eat salad in general, but I made this to bring to the dinner for everyone else. THIS IS AMAZING. everyone was raving it was the best they had ever had so i had to try it, and it is SO GOOD. the dressing is delicious, i don’t like vinegar or mustard usually, but the roasted pine nuts really balance those flavors. and the roasted tomatos, I baked then with basil were unbelievable. to be honest I don’t like any of these ingredients on their own but together this tastes amazing… i suggest it for kids!!! MY NEW FAVORITE DISH! this dish started the tradition of bringing the recipe card to our pot luck diners.
Very nice salad! I love green beans and salads, so this was a great salad for me to try. Bf turned his nose up at the dressing, which I expected, but I used it for my salad, and I really liked it. Bf just doesn’t like mustard, so that’s his loss! :o) I used homemade sundried tomatoes that I had rehydrated by soaking in water in the fridge overnight. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
We liked this one a lot!!! If nothing else, because it was a bit different from your everyday salad. I used little grape tomatoes and red leaf lettuce, rather than the arugula. The dressing is very nice, although I probably doubled the honey, just enough to tame the tartness of my vinegar, not enough to make this a sweet dressing. I would suggest adding the honey to taste. I was concerned that the mustard (I used Dijon) might be a bit overpowering, but it wasn’t at all. I will definitely make this one again. Beautiful presentation too, which is always a plus in my book!
Not a big fan of this one – the only way i can describe the flavor is odd. Too much feta, the garlic is too strong.
this was DELICIOUS! i ended up not using all 6 ounces of feta cheese, that may have been too much. Also, next time i would use a lot more cherry tomatoes, 12 was simply not enough! I cut up a leftover grilled chicken breast and mixed it into the salad, tasted GREAT with the “honey mustard” type dressing.. This salad fed 3 as a meal so could feed 6 as a side dish easily. Seriously all the flavors in this were AWESOME. you have GOT to make this!!