Almost too pretty to eat.

We eat a lot of green beans at our house.  When my eldest son was a toddler we used to joke that we feared he was going to turn into a green bean.  They were his favorite food, by far – and as a consequence he ate them almost every day.  He’s open to a modest amount of vegetable rotation these days, so we only eat beans twice a week.  I’m often too lazy to do anything more than blanche them and toss them with a tiny bit of good quality butter and some crunchy salt (they are REALLY good that way).  When the spirit moves this is our other go-to green bean recipe.  It’s light and easy and looks totally fabulous on the plate.

French Beans and Tomatoes (8 servings)

• 2 pounds French green beans, washed and trimmed
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 shallot, sliced and then chopped fine
• ½ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons best quality extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons best quality red wine vinegar
• a pinch of sugar (1/4 teaspoon)
• 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

Blanche the green beans in boiling water until they are just done.  Rinse in cold water and then drain.

Veggies prepped and ready.

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and sugar.  Combine the green beans, tomatoes, shallot and basil in a large mixing bowl.  Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix gently until all of the beans are coated.  This salad works well prepared a few hours in advance (2-4).  When you are ready to serve the salad, toss it again with 1 ½ teaspoons of coarse salt.  Serve the beans at room temperature.  This works well the next day in school lunch boxes.  It will look a tad soggy, but it still tastes great!

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