Italian White & Green Bean Salad Terrines for a Picnic for Two

Along with some assorted cheeses. bread, pasta with pesto and fresh fruit, these Italian white & green bean salad terrines are on the menu for our picnic in the mountains.

These little terrines are a wonderful way to package up a healthy and delicious dish, making it easy to take on the road, hike, office or to serve at home.

Italian White & Green Bean Salad Terrines

1 15-ounce can of cooked cannellini or white beans
1/2 pound young green beans or French haricot vert, cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup roasted red peppers, cut in a thin julienne
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
A few sprigs of fresh oregano and dill
2 tablespoons red onion, diced small
2 tablespoons capers
A pinch of hot red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse the beans.
Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, pepper flakes and then season with salt and pepper. Pull some of the dill feathers from the stem and toss them into the dressing and give it a stir.

Heat a small pot of water to the boiling point and then blanch the green beans for a minute or two until they become bright green. Remove from heat, drain and cool quickly in a bath of cold ice water. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Set out 4 clean half pint canning jars and evenly distribute the green beans into them. Then layer the cannellini beans in the same fashion. Top the beans off with the red peppers, and then a sprinkle of onions and capers. Give the dressing a good whisk and then pour over the terrines, equally distributing it. Garnish with a few oregano leaves and chill for a few hours or overnight. Before serving, turn the terrines upside-down, allowing the dressing to coat the salad.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Early to the Market ~ let the good-times roll!

Boulder celebrates Memorial weekend in a big way with the Boulder Creek Festival and the Bolder Boulder 10K race. We decided to kick off our weekend with an early morning trip to the farmer's market before all of the crowds descended on the downtown area for the festivities.

Greeted with massive amounts of peonies of varying shades of pink, saturated magenta and the purest of whites, I was instantly charmed by this lively market.

Just picked this morning by Munson Farms, I snatched up an overflowing bag of salad greens with a bit of dill mixed in.

Gorgeous radishes of many varieties were tempting...

but first, feed Ric. For starters, Peruvian pupusas straight off the grill and topped off with a fried egg, a side of coleslaw and a scoop of guacamole...

and then a blackberry cream tart...or two...

and freshly baked breads from Udi's to take home with us.

We could have hung with these guys all day...

and eaten one or two of everything!

Ran into Mr. Laudisio who makes one heck of an Italian feast.

These beauties have me thinking strawberry shortcakes with whipped cream for our barbeque on Monday would make a delicious dessert choice.

Back to the flower stand to pick up an arm-load of peonies before we head home to begin preparing treats for our Sunday hike and romantic picnic for two.

What I really want...

What I wish for on Mother’s Day, I have, a happy and healthy son who is a beautiful human being.

I was blessed with a mother whom I shared an amazing and complete relationship with, I have a lovely step-mother, mother-in-law and a step-mother-in-law.

All that I could ever want in the mom department, I have, which is the peace, love and beautiful relationships that already exist in my life and I wish the same for all of the mothers in the world.

Happy Mother's Day! xx Eva