They're Supposed to be Green (Beans)

Have you ever tried a green bean salad from a salad bar? The beans are usually somewhat grey, dressed with too much oil and not enough vinegar, and often times they are covered in some weird herbs.

I'm here to share with you a really good, quick and easy green bean salad recipe. The key is in how you prepare your beans. You can make any number of dressings for the beans, once they've been cooked properly. If you over cook them no matter how you dress them, they just won't taste right.

If you follow these very simple steps, the most important being to rinse the beans in cool running water for a bit to stop the cooking, you will be ever so pleased with the results.

I'm thinking that a version of this recipe will also end up as one of the Cooking for One series I've been working on. I figure you can cook all the beans at once, store them in air tight containers in portion sized servings. Then, when you're ready to eat the green beans, you can add any number of a variety of sauces. One is included here, just a basic lemon, olive oil and caper combination.

Green Bean Salad

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Green Beans (or yellow), tips cut off
• 3 tbsps Salt
• 1/2 of a Lemon
• Olive Oil to sprinkle over the cooked beans
• 1/4 tsp capers, drained
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Boil a large pot of water with the salt in it.
• Place the green beans in a steamer basket.
• Submerge the basket in the boiling water.
• Partially cover the pan, leaving enough space for the steam to escape.
• Cook the beans for 6 minutes.
• Take the steamer basket out of the pan, and rinse under cold water for one minute.
• Put the beans (about half the cooked amount will do for two) in a shallow bowl and squeeze the lemon over them. Sprinkle some olive oil on top and add the capers, salt and pepper.
• Mix it up and enjoy!