Whiteley Creek Homestead

On Thursday, I'll be picking up this week's CSA box, so I got busy and used up the string beans and cukes from last week's box by making the second recipe tucked into my CSA box. The recipe, from Food Network's Rachel Ray, uses a simple olive oil and lemon juice drizzle seasoned with salt and pepper that allows the fresh garden veggies to take centerstage. I'm going to experiment with the addition of some seasonings. This colorful combo of complementary veggies warrants exerting a bit of effort to tweak the drizzle just a bit. 

String Bean Salad with Red Onion and Tomato

1 pound fresh green and yellow string beans, washed and trimmed

¼ red onion, sliced thin

¼ European cucumber, cut into thin sticks resembling shape and size of string beans (I diced them instead.)

½ pint grape tomatoes, halved

extra-virgin olive oil

½ lemon, juiced

coarse salt and pepper

Steam string beans in ½ inch boiling water covered for 3 to 4 minutes. (I used just a touch of water… only enough to keep the pan from going dry. You are blanching the beans to heighten their color and make them tender crisp.) Cold shock beans by running under cold water and drain well. Place beans in a bowl and combine with onions, cucumber, and tomato. Dress salad with a generous drizzle of olive oil and juice of ½ lemon. Season salad with salt and pepper, to taste.