Green Bean and Egg Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing

Here’s another salad for you. A really, really good salad, but only if you’re hopelessly in love with goat cheese like I am. This salad is like a cross between a green salad and a potato salad with some fresh green beans thrown in. It’s quite a strange-sounding combination, but the goat cheese dressing is what brings it all together. I LOVED the dressing. It would be great on either type of salad, too.

If you don’t like goat cheese. . . hmm. . . maybe try cream cheese or sour cream?

This is also one of the rare occasions you’ll see green beans on my blog. I’m not a huge fan of them — maybe from WAY too many servings of canned green beans growing up? *shudder* Lightly blanched fresh green beans are tolerable, and, dare I say, GOOD with that goat cheese dressing. It’s some kind of witchcraft, I tell you.

This salad reminds me of spring! I have a few other springy salads if you’re looking for something new…

Asparagus & Grilled Melon Salad — Ok, this one screams summer, too. I love that the melon is grilled, too!

Balsamic Strawberry Cobb Salad — I love seeing strawberries pop up in the spring! And strawberries + balsamic is a steller combo.

Toasted Brussels Salad with Strawberry-Basil Vinaigrette — Another strawberry dressing. I just love this with the sweet grapes and blueberries and crunchy nuts here!

Green Bean and Egg Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

The goat cheese dressing in this salad is absolute GOLD. This salad can be a meal in itself with the hard cooked eggs and soft potatoes. It's a perfect home for spring vegetables, too!

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Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon minced red onion
• 4 ounces soft goat cheese
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
• 1 pound small red-skinned potatoes, sliced
• 4 large eggs
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
• 8 cups mixed salad greens, torn
• 1 large ripe tomato, halved and thinly sliced

Instructions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine minced onion, goat cheese, buttermilk, vinegar, olive oil, mustard 3/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth. Add a tablespoon of water if it's too thick.
2. Put potatoes in a pot of salted water; bring to a simmer and cook until tender, about 18 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
3. Meanwhile, put eggs in another, smaller, pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil; remove from heat and cover. Let eggs sit for about 10 minutes, then remove from pot (without draining the water) into a bowl of cold water.
4. Add green beans to the same boiling pot of water the eggs came from. Cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, run under cold water and pat dry.
5. Peel and slice eggs. In a large salad bowl toss together salad greens, green beans and half of dressing. Top with potatoes, tomato and hard-boiled egg slices. Drizzle with remaining dressing.