Green Bean Salad

I know. I know. There is this huge pile of plums I promised to work with... and I am working with them. Furiously.  But I had to take a minute, before showing you the fruits of those labors, to do something else.

Hee hee. Get it? Fruits? Oh, I kill myself.

Ahem.

I don't know about you, but I am getting awfully tired of looking at stuff in jars. Don't get me wrong. I love the stuff, I love the jars. I love how I will have the stuff all year long, and I will have my own little happy healthy version of "fast food." But I may scream if I have to look at one more jar this week. It seems like time for something green.

So, to take a little break from stirring sauce and canning it, I made a green bean salad.

I for one, cannot stomach canned green beans. I also cannot stomach frozen green beans. They somehow manage to retain all of the bitter earthy flavor without keeping any of the fresh green flavor. On the other hand, there isn't much I like better than fresh green beans.

Lucky for me, the AHO box came with an abundance of green beans this week. It also came with this recipe, happily.

This salad is easy to prepare, can be done ahead of time, should be served room temperature, and the limited ingredients do a fabulous job of enhancing the delicious green beans without masking their flavor at all.

Green Bean Salad

1/2 pound green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley
2 Tbsp. sliced green onions
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. brown mustard
salt and pepper

First, steam the green beans until they are tender but still crunchy. Immediately plunge them into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.

Meanwhile, in a dry skillet, toast the walnuts over medium heat. Toss them frequently, and cook until they are fragrant. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, and mustard. Toss this dressing with the green beans.

Chop the parsley and green onions, and combine with the cooled walnuts.

Top the green beans with the walnut mixture, and add salt and pepper to taste.