by Carla White

Created on: February 13, 2011

Green Bean & Red Onion Salad

This is a very nice salad during hot summer months, but also goes well with a rich, greasy meal such as lamb. I'm always searching for salads that don't involve lettuce, which I find flavorless and tedious after a while. The idea came from an Italian cookbook, though I have a particular way of cooking the beans and I find my simple balsamic dressing goes best with this.

The salad:

1 1/2 lb green beans (cooking instructions below)

1 large bowl of ice water

1 good-sized red onion, thinly sliced

Steam the beans in a steamer basket (I use a pasta pot - any basket that fits inside a pot will do), filling the pot with water to just touch the bottom of the basket. Boil, covered, until the beans are just tender when poked with a fork.

Immediately plunge all the beans into the ice water. This will "refresh" them and stop the cooking process, resulting in tender, flavorful beans that are not soggy. Let the beans completely cool in the water. When they are cool, drain the water and pat the beans dry with a paper towel.

Toss the beans with the sliced red onion.  Add dressing (see below) to taste - I find some people like more dressing than others, so I usually add enough dressing to coat the beans throughout but without drenching it. That way people who want more dressing can always add it later, and those who like less dressing will be happy with the way it is.  Cover and refrigerate about one hour (until cool and crisp). Toss again before serving.

The dressing:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon oregano

garlic powder to taste (recommend 1/4 tsp)

1/8 tsp black pepper

Optional: a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. This dressing will separate as it sits, so it will need to be shaken or stirred well if used later.

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