praise the bean

i am a friend of the haricot vert, we are such good friends, in fact, that they don't mind that i call them hairy coverts. when we lived a couple blocks from the whole foods they were easier to procure than they are now, now i usually have to settle for plain old green beans, which i have grown to love in lieu of their french cousin. what do i like best about them? i'm so glad that you asked.

firstly they are green
secondly they are crunchy
thirdly...who needs any more reasons than that?

so my little story about green beans goes a little something like this: the other night i made dinner (even though i got home late and didn't really feel like cooking). i threw some salmon under the broiler and i heated up some leftover mashed potatoes, and then there was a bag of green beans in the fridge.

the last thing i felt like doing was nipping off all their heads and tails in order to cook them, but i did it. after i trimmed them, i gave them a bath and threw them in the microwave. i am a pretty recent convert to the virtues of the microwave, there was a time (not that long ago) when i (irrationally perhaps) didn't even want to be in the same room when one was on (but that's a whole other blog post). but microwaves really are the cat's pajamas when it comes to some things, and one of those things is steaming green beans (and broccoli).

i was (even as the green beans were being nuked) not really looking forward to eating these beans, it wasn't until i took them out of the microwave that i remembered what one of my favorite yummy things EVER is: steamed green beans! how could i have forgotten this?

one of the ways i love them best is: room temp or cold, tossed with some good olive oil and a splash each of red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar, a generous sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh ground peppr and a sprinkle of dried dill. dude. you must try this. so simple and so crunchy and green and yummy. if you don't have a microwave, you can steam them in the traditonal way...al dente not to soft & not TOO crunchy, just crunchy enough.

i realize that there really should be a beautiful picture of green beans lounging in olive oil and vinegar, and sprinkled with pepper and salt to accompany this post. i sincerely apologize that there isn't one.