Green Beans with Balsamic Date Reduction Feta & Pine Nuts – Healthy vegetarian side dish recipe for sauteed green beans with balsamic date reduction sauce, crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts.
I see green vegetables as a blank canvas, just waiting to be decorated. Vegetables on their own can be somewhat boring… steamed, sauteed, grilled… they’re nice, but they lack a “wow” factor unless they have a dressing, sauce, or some other sort of embellishment. I find green beans to be particularly yawn-inducing. Lately, I’ve challenged myself to come up with some more exciting ways to serve them. I usually make them Middle Eastern-style with tomatoes, and more recently discovered they go really well with caponata. With Thanksgiving around the corner and those heavy green bean casseroles with canned soup on many menus (sorry, I’m not a fan), I decided to develop something lighter and more flavorful… something unexpected. This recipe is the result – Green Beans with Balsamic Date Reduction, Feta and Pine Nuts. It’s a long-winded title for a really simple and fabulously festive side dish.
Young, thin green beans are quick-sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you’re using larger beans, feel free to steam them- note about that in the recipe below. Top them with a simple reduction made from soaked dates and balsamic vinegar, which creates a gorgeous plum-colored sweet and tart sauce. Sprinkle the whole thing with salty feta – I like the Israeli block feta sold in many kosher/Middle Eastern markets – and toasted pine nuts. If you have nut allergies (or you’re watching your budget), feel free to substitute toasted sunflower seeds.
Serve warm or at room temperature, depending on your preference. It’s a surprising and delicious symphony of flavors. If you don’t mind serving dairy with meat, or you’re having a vegetarian holiday meal, I think this would make an excellent Thanksgivukkah side dish. 🙂
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Green Beans with Balsamic Date Reduction, Feta and Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 1 pound young, thin green beans (if using larger beans, see note at the end of the recipe)
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup pitted dates
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup toasted pinenuts (or sub toasted sunflower seeds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
NOTES
Instructions
- Soak dates in warm water for about 10 minutes to soften. In a blender, combine the dates, water, balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.
- In a small saucepot, bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer on low until sauce is reduced and thickened, stirring frequently. It should be thick, but still easy to drizzle.
- In a mixing bowl, toss the green beans with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Pour the olive oil-coated seasoned green beans into the skillet and sauté for 6-8 minutes, or until tender-crisp.
- Toss beans with half of the feta and half of the pine nuts, then transfer to your serving dish. Drizzle with reduction and top with remaining feta and pine nuts.
Nutrition
Made this on Thanksgiving also and of course it was delicious; how could it not be with those ingredients. Next time I would make only half of the date sauce as I had a ton left over. Also I cooked my beans for 20 min even though they were very thin and fresh. Thanks for this great recipe.
I made this green bean dish during Hanukkah last week. It was a hit! I had plenty of date reduction sauce left for a future meal. It went great with my brisket and latkes. I also made your dreidel candy with the marshmellows and Hershey’s chocolate kisses (for the adults!) Took pictures of the wonderful meal that was a complimentary part of my 8 month old granddaughter Anneliese’s first celebration of Hanukkah. Food really is more than fueling the body for activity; how we prepare our food, how we eat and how we dress the table makes our eating “human”, about building and maintaining relationships, about passing on traditions that bind us and give us an identity. In German, the word “essen” to eat is reserved for humans, while “fressen” (to eat) is reserved for animals. It all reminds me of Leon Kass’ philosophical book “The Hungry Soul: The Eating and Perfecting of Our Nature”.
Thank you Tori for all your hard work! You recipes, when prepared and served with love, truly are a part of perfecting our relational nature as humans!
Denise this is beautiful. I agree, food is a very special ritual and an opportunity to connect with others. Thank you for writing!
I made this dish for our Thanksgiving dinner today, and we all loved it! I used a milder, goat feta, and the flavors of all the dish were just perfect. I also used frozen green beans from Trader Joe’s (very thin, like haricots verts), so didn’t saute in olive oil. Just steamed them lightly and topped with the remaining ingredients. I had planned to toss the beans in a bit of olive oil before adding the other ingredients, but forgot — I don’t think it lacked at all, for it. I look forward to using this recipe again and again!
Made these with our early Thanksgiving turkey last night and my husband declared them his new favorite vegetable dish. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us!
That’s great Renee!
Green beans sound yummy. Saw the Brussel sprout recipe. Any thought how the preparation for the Sprouts would work with Green Beans . Love Green s. Brussel Sprouts not a favorite.
Hi Sandra, if you’re referring to the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate Molasses recipe, you can simply sub steamed green beans for the Brussels sprouts– the rest of the recipe would remain the same.