Green Bean and Walnut Salad

I love this salad and I wish I could say that I loved all salads.  I like some salads, mostly those that involve some type of cured meat and cheese.  Or a warm mushroom one with prosciutto that we made for Valentines Day and I have yet to post.  And with my love of carbohydrates any salad that involves some kind of pasta or grain I am usually a fan of, but the regular old pre-dinner salad to me is usually a bore.  Especially those at a restaurant that are labeled as 'side salads' and involve iceberg lettuce, a wedge of tomato and potentially a cucumber slice with a choice of dressing.  Yuck!  No wonder so many people don't like salads.

Although as much as I hate that type of salad I can't say I'm creative enough to come up with much better on my own.  I'm definitely not the type of person who just throws together a salad with what's in my refrigerator.  I know that I could, but it just wouldn't taste good.  Or I should say, doesn't taste as good.  I was inspired to try to be that kind of person like my friend, Marcie, after having dinner at her house one night.  She just grabbed some sunflower seeds, whatever lettuce she had at the time, some peppers and broccoli, and whipped together a dressing that is her husband's absolute favorite dressing and it was delicious!  Inspired I bought a huge bag of sunflower seeds and tried to recreate hers.  And... Let's just say there's still an enormous bag of sunflower seeds in my fridge less the tablespoon or so I used to build the salad.  It just wasn't the same.

I'm even bad at salad bars!  I always end up with all of these random ingredients, which all don't really go together.  I think I get excited by all of the choices and end up with just a hodge podge mess that isn't very good.  I need some direction.

That's where this salad comes in.  It is definitely a 'recipe', but one that after making a few times I can make without the directions and aside from the green beans I almost always have the other ingredients on hand.  It's my version of a thrown together salad.

I'm expanding my horizons and learning that the salad definition is a bit looser than I grew up thinking it was.  It doesn't even have to be lettuce!  Like this one.  I love to make green beans as a side dish and originally thought of this as more of a side dish than a salad, because it can be served hot or cold but as I dissect the recipe here it's pretty obvious that it belongs in the 'salad' category.   Plus I love to use green beans because they are generally readily available.

So to hell with green salads I say!  I'm trying something different.  A green salad with no greens that is.  Definitely not your run of the mill 'side salad'.

Trish's Tips:  The nice thing about this salad is it keeps for a day or so in the refrigerator, even if it's dressed.

Green Bean and Walnut Salad
Adapted from Ellie Krieger
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1/2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 C walnut pieces
3 TBL finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 TBL finely chopped red onion
2 TBL walnut or olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Put the green beans in a steamer basket over several inches of boiling water for 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium serving bowl.

Toast the walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes, then coarsely chop and set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard.  Add salt and pepper.

Toss enough dressing with the green beans to coat.  Then top with walnuts, parsley and red onion.  Toss to coat and serve warm or at room temperature.  Add salt and pepper to taste.