Marinted Green Beans with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta

Well, I'm just back from my golf trip with my high school buddies and it was just as much fun as I thought it would be.  I always have a great time with these guys.  One of the guys had made a DVD from old game films of our senior year of football.  We only lost one game that year and won our Conference, so it was fun to watch and reminisce about those good times.

But on with life and the next good times.  With Memorial day coming up this weekend, I thought it might be a good time to post some recipes that you can use for your memorial day picnic.  This recipe for marinated green beans came from a magazine years ago.  I have saved the recipe and used it over and over as a great side dish that can be made ahead of time and served at room temperature for any meal from a picnic to a sit down dinner. 

Ingredients:(8 to 10 servings)

2 pounds fresh green beans - trimmed
11/2 tsp. salt divided
2 garlic cloves - minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup pitted kalamata olives - sliced
2 tomatoes - seeded and chopped
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP fresh oregano - finely chopped
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 (4 oz.) packages crumbled feta cheese
Garnish: fresh oregano sprigs

Preparation:

Place beans in boiling water seasoned with 1 tsp. of the salt; cook 6-8 minutes or until crisp tender.  Drain and plunge beans into ice water to stop the cooking process and preserve their bright green color.  Drain and let the beans dry on a layer of paper towels.  Place beans into a flat serving dish.

Sauté garlic in  hot olive oil in a skillet for 30 seconds or until fragrant.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in the olives, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, fresh oregano, and the pepper.  Pour mixture over green beans, stir to coat and allow them to sit in the fridge for at least three hours or overnight.  Remove from fridge one hour prior to serving and allow to get to room temperature.  Season with remaining salt. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the green beans and garnish with oregano sprigs.  This will make a beautiful presentation and is a tasty side for your picnic.  It goes great  with hamburgers.