Green Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Feta (one sentence bloggin continues . . .)

The Half-Price Books at Westheimer and Montrose is a dangerous place for me: the buy back counter is in the cookbook section, eek!; I never leave empty-handed, and last time I left with two books by Art Smith (I never knew that he was the target of so much hatred until he appeared on Top Chef Masters -- he's off my radar but his cookbooks are great, I recommend them), one of which is Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family; seriously, this is a splendid cookbook, and it was a great help when I was looking for something to do with green beans (yellow, too) and tomatoes; perhaps this salad is a no-brainer, but it was delicious, and I'd like to share it here.


Green Bean Salad with Feta and Tomatoes
from Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family by Art Smith

1 1/2 pounds of green beans, washed and trimmed
1/2 pint grape tomatoes (I used regular beefsteak tomatoes)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (don't skip this, the mint adds incredible flavor!)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
(I added a splash of red wine vinegar, too)

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the beans and cook until barely tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Pat the green beans dry with paper towels.

Toss the green beans, tomatoes, feta, shallot, mint, and basil together in a large bowl. Drizzle the mint with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.