Green Bean Salad With Tomatoes, Olives & Feta

Summer is the time when fresh vegetables are plentiful. Today’s salad is a marinated dish of fresh green beans, tomatoes, red onions, and olives with a sprinkling of feta. The dish should marinate at least 3 hours in a refrigerated covered dish, but I like to leave it overnight. You can double the recipe for a big bowl for a cook-out or use the recipe for your immediate family. Make it to your family’s taste; my sister loves black olives while I love green. Fresh tomatoes can be small grape tomatoes or large heirloom tomatoes chopped into bite-sized pieces.

Green beans are a very healthy vegetable and are packed with nutrients such as Vitamin A, C and K, potassium, iron, and calcium. Green beans are also low in calories, low sodium, low carb and high in fiber. Plus the Greek inspired dressing is easy and so tasty.

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Perfect 4th of July Recipes

Next week the calendar shows the official first day of summer is June 20th. Yeah!  Even if your weather doesn’t feel like summer yet, let’s fire up the grill, whip up some favorite potluck sides, and make red, white, and blue dishes.  If like me you’ve had both vacinations,  you can safely have vacinated friends over to enjoy the summer. Obviously Independence Day isn’t always going to fall on a weekend. Luckily, this year July 4th is a Sunday. Live outside the US and don’t celebrate the 4th?   Not a problem – let’s talk summer cook-outs. Now what are you eating?

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Grilled Watermelon with Feta and Mint

One of the prime pleasures of summer is ripe, juicy watermelon. Watermelon is not only delicious but also very nutritious. As I wrote last summer, (Watermelon’s Great Health Benefits), this red fruit is filled with antioxidants, lycopene, vitamins, and minerals. As a matter of fact, ripe watermelon has more lycopene than tomatoes. It is low in sodium, calories and fat. What could be better than healthy food that has great taste?

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