Roasted Potato, Green Bean and Feta Salad

• Servings: 4.

This recipe comes from the Greek canon and combines small potatoes that are roasted until tender and with green beans, salty feta cheese, and pickle-y caperberries.

Choose each ingredient carefully and for maximum flavor.  That means try to buy thin-skinned new potatoes or flavorful fingerlings, slim haricots verts, creamy Bulgarian or Greek feta, and tangy plump caperberries that can be purchased either jarred in brine or by the pound alongside pickles and olives at your favorite deli.

This recipe is a time to use your best olive oil.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound little potatoes, either fingerlings, baby Yukon golds, or locally grown new white or red potatoes
• 1 pound haricots verts or tender green string beans, washed and with ends trimmed
• Salt
• 1/2 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup caperberries
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º F.
2. Scrub and dry the potatoes and leave them unpeeled and spread them on a rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for about 25 minutes until completely tender and the skin is shriveled. (The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the potatoes.)
3. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes.
4. While the potatoes are roasting, bring a pan of salted water to a boil and cook the green beans until just tender. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Drain completely and pat dry with a paper towel.
5. In a serving bowl combine the still warm roasted potatoes and green beans. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the crumbled feta cheese and caperberries and toss again.
6. Season with several grinds of black pepper.
7. Serve immediately.

Tip:  Most cheese stores sell three kinds of feta cheese:  Greek, French or Bulgarian.  Ask to taste each before you buy to choose the one you like best.  I prefer Bulgarian because it is creamy but still crumbles and has a lively flavor without being too salty.  Also, always buy a whole piece of feta and crumble it yourself instead of buying a package of crumbled cheese because it, and its flavor,  will be fresher.