The Culinary Works

One of my favorite vegetables of the spring/summer is green beans. I adore them for their tender green sweetness and their amazing versatility. From Tempura to casseroles to salads, green beans are an amazing and easy vegetable to prepare.

We stopped at a roadside farmers market in Sloughouse in hopes of finding some of that famous Sloughouse corn. The corn isn’t ready yet, not surprising with this weird weather, but any farmers market is worth exploring in my book. I spied the corn still in the fields from afar and wished it good growing then wandered into the barn where I found some really wonderful green beans. I chose to make a very simple green bean salad for dinner on that warm Sunday evening.

First, clean them and snap off the stem end. Start a pot of boiling salty water to blanch them, which simply means to partially cook them (par cook). The water should be salted enough so that you can taste the salt. It may seem like a lot but this is your only chance to season the INSIDE of the bean. Trust me, the bean will only absorb a tiny bit of the salt and will greatly benefit from that ever so slight bit. So, taste the water and if you can’t taste a bit of salt, add more. In the restaurant I would yell across the kitchen, “That water better taste like the ocean!” I was joking of course, but the point was that if you can’t taste salt it isn’t doing anything.

Also, make a bowl of ice water ahead of time to put the beans into once they are cooked to your liking. This will stop the cooking instantly and ensure they stay as crisp as you would like them to be. It also helps them retain their vibrant green hue, which means your salad will be prettier.

Put the cleaned beans into the boiling water and let the cook for 5-6 minutes, then take out a mid size bean and give it a bite. Is this how crisp you want it? Would you like it a bit less crisp? If you think it still tastes a bit under done for your salad, give it another few minutes and taste again. I always use a medium sized bean to test because the thinner ones will get done quicker and the thicker ones will be a bit crisper. The mid size bean will give you a happy medium.

Once they are the crispness you like, I like mine to still have a tiny bit of a bite to them, remove them from the water and plunge them immediately into the ice water bowl and mix them around gently, being careful not to break them up.

When they are cool, remove them from the water and let them drain for a few minutes. Toss them with your favorite balsamic vinaigrette, add some fresh ground black pepper, sprinkle with cool crumbled goat cheese and crunchy sunflower seeds.

Not only does it taste delicious, it is also a lovely presentation. It goes great with BBQ and the beans can be blanched a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Do not dress them until you are ready to serve your salad as the acid in the dressing will break down the beans and make them soggy.

I hope you will find your local farmers market and see what is in season in your area. Spring and summer veggies are full of color and vibrant flavor. Just seeing them in all their crisp and colorful beauty inspires me to cook! Our local market is every Thursday night in Lincoln, CA.

Maybe I’ll see you there!