potato and green bean salad with lemon miso dressing

Our CSA has been very lucky with the green beans lately. Every week, green beans. Really, I’m not complaining because I like green beans. I’ve recently been slicing them uber-thin and adding them raw to vegetable slaws or cutting them into manageable lengths and tossing them into a stir fry. And then there are the 2 fantastic standby favorites: lemony green beans and bold green beans.

But a couple of weeks ago, I branched out. I had just received a bag of baby nugget potatoes from our CSA as well and decided that marrying the two in one dish sounded like a good plan of attack. And because I was also cooking up some roasted miso ginger chicken that night, I figured I’d run with the miso theme. The recipe is simple if you’ve got your ingredients on hand – miso and umeboshi vinegar. If you can’t find the umeboshi vinegar (a salty Japanese plum brine), just substitute in some cider vinegar and a good pinch of salt.

This potato and green bean salad makes for a lovely late summer dish. The potatoes are creamy and the beans have snap with the dressing being a nice blend of tartness from the citrus and vinegar and the subtle miso flavour to balance things out. The salad tastes great the following day, however, your green beans will discolour and won’t look as pretty. If you are eating with your eyeballs, this may pose a problem, but your taste buds will only notice how delicious it is.

18 comments to “potato and green bean salad with lemon miso dressing”

  1. 1
    Molly   September 5, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    The CSA gods have rained green beans and new baby potatoes upon us, as well. Thanks so much for the lemon-miso dressing idea. I had tossed the beans with a cilantro pesto last week — which I loved — but I’m excited to move to this Asian take.

  2. 2
    Joanne   September 6, 2011 at 3:27 am

    That dressing is definitely a breath of fresh air compared to heavy mayo versions!

  3. 3
    Lynn   September 6, 2011 at 5:32 am

    Ooh, good timing on this recipe! My neighbor just brought over a big bag of green beans. Thanks for the inspiration!

  4. 4
    Nicole   September 6, 2011 at 6:51 am

    The dressing sounds delicious!

  5. 5
    kickpleat   September 6, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    Molly, a cilantro pesto sounds delicious. I’ve made a basil dressing in the past that would work nicely with beans and potatoes, but this new dressing is so nice too!

    Joanne, I agree completely! It’s been years since I’ve had a mayo-based potato salad (but I do love them too!)

    Glad I could help out, Lynn!

    Thanks Nicole, it’s delicious for sure.

  6. 6
    Robert F   September 6, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    Good timing on green beans, they’re very much in season just now. Oddly, my local Japanese supermarket didn’t have umeboshi vinegar, but the Chinese market did. I enjoyed the flavors of this dish, but the amount of dressing created by the recipe seemed excessive. This is probably because the grenade-sized Meyer lemons on my backyard tree are just too juicy. Anyway, Judy loves baby potatoes so it worked for us!

  7. 7
    kickpleat   September 6, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    Funny, Robert, because I thought there was just enough dressing – I’m now officially jealous of your backyard meyer lemons!! It’s a good problem to have 🙂

  8. 8
    Sues   September 7, 2011 at 5:08 am

    Green beans make me happy, so I’m jealous of your CSA plethora! What a great salad idea 🙂

  9. 9
    Bijoux   September 7, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    I’ve been eating a lot of potatoes lately. They’re Ontario potatoes so I’m happy about that 🙂 Must be the cooler fall weather that has arrived but I’ve been craving carbs lately. Love the sound of this salad, garlic, lemon, lime, miso….yum!

  10. 10
    Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen   September 7, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    I don’t really like potatoes…and I don’t even like green beans, but that miso dressing is a seller!

  11. 11
    kickpleat   September 7, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    Thanks Sues, I’m pretty chuffed about our CSA!

    Bijoux, I’m so glad we’re having an extended summer – it’s still really hot here which is nice since summer had a slow start here in the PNW! But I can always get behind some hearty carbs & luckily this salad seems nice and light.

    Really, Adrianna, I thought everyone liked potatoes! Huh. But yes, that dressing is pretty delicious!

  12. 12
    Kimberley   September 8, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    Ah, love the miso-umeboshi dressing on this! It’s just the right variation to give it some new life. Great call.

  13. 13
    kickpleat   September 12, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    Thanks Kimberley!

  14. 14
    steph (whisk/spoon)   September 12, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    that sounds so delicious– and what a great dressing! why the heck hasn’t my CSA given me green beans even once this summer??

  15. 15
    kickpleat   September 14, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    Steph, no green beans? Ha, you can have some of ours! I love them, but it’s getting to be a bit much 🙂

  16. 16
    Ashley   September 28, 2011 at 9:09 am

    Mmm what a great way to use up the baby potatoes!

  17. 17
    kickpleat   September 30, 2011 at 9:57 am

    Thanks Ashley, it was a tasty dish.

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