Warm couscous salad with green beans, toasted walnuts, feta, and lots of dill

At her recent knife skills demo at the STEELPORT factory, Chef Katy Millard of Coquine shared a favorite summer dish that’s as elegant as it is effortless. This salad is a vibrant celebration of texture, flavor, and peak-season produce. Katy encourages flexibility—use whatever beans are freshest, and don’t hold back on the dill. It’s a dish that feels equally at home on a weeknight table or a weekend gathering, showing off the beauty of simple, thoughtfully prepared ingredients. Warm couscous salad with green beans, toasted walnuts, feta, and lots of dill This light salad can be made with whatever kind of beans are available. I love a mix of green beans, romano beans, yellow wax beans, and even thinly sliced raw ones like the purple striped Dragon’s Tongue beans for some extra crunch and color. Just add these in to season with the roasted beans before tossing the salad together.

• 1 cup couscous (I like the M’hamsa couscous from Les Moulins Mahjoub)
• 1lb green beans (or green/yellow/purple/mixed) trimmed of stem and cut into 2” lengths
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dill (or more, if you’re like me and you LOVE dill)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 4oz crumbled feta cheese (1 cup loose)
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp walnut oil, divided
• 1 tbsp olive oil plus more for cooking beans
• 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt

Toast the chopped walnuts at 375 until fragrant and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. While still warm, season them with 1 tbsp walnut oil and a generous pinch of salt. (I love this technique with just about any nut – makes them taste like more flavorful versions of themselves.) Cook the couscous. For M’hamsa: Bring 1.5 cups water, 3/4 tsp salt and 1 tbsp olive oil to a boil in a medium pot, stir in couscous, bring back to a boil and simmer for one minute. Cover, turn off the heat, and let sit for ten minutes. Some couscous takes a different water ratio, check the package!) Meanwhile, roast the green beans. Heat a wide sauté pan with a generous tbsp of olive oil and a smashed clove of garlic to flavor it. Add beans and a 1/4 tsp salt and cover, shaking often over medium heat until the beans are just tender and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. When beans are done, put into a large bowl and season with the lemon juice and 1 tbsp walnut oil (taste here, and adjust with more lemon and salt if you like – should be nice and bright). Fluff the couscous with a large fork, and add it to the bowl with the beans. Add the walnuts, chopped dill, and crumbled feta, and gently fold together. Taste. Adjust the salt if you like. Spoon onto plates and top with more dill sprigs if you’re feeling fancy.