It was hot last week.
Friday was the hottest day of the summer.
The heat had been forecast for a week.
I decided to be pro-active.
I did not want to be ‘slaving over a hot stove’ on the hottest day of the year.
I decided to make our usual, week-end 2-course dinner in the morning, when it’s still cool.
I decided that it would be a cold dinner.
All we would need to do for dinner would be to take the plates from the fridge, pour the wine and relax…. Once it cooled off enough to eat…. (The air, not the food)
This salad is all from my potager – I love that!.
Bean and Basil Salad, with Tomatoes and Onions
Total time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8oz (240gr) green beans, cut into 1″ lengths
- 1 small, fresh onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 cup loosely packed basil, purple and green
- 1 tsp Dijon-style mustard
- 2 tbs white Balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbs good olive oil
- freshly ground salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Bring a medium saucepan half full of water to a boil over high heat.
- Add beans and blanch for 4 minutes, until just tender.
- Drain beans and immediately submerge in an equal amount of very cold water.
- Drain again, spread out on paper towels and pat dry.
- Put into a serving bowl.
- Add onion, tomatoes and basil.
- In small bowl whisk together the mustard, vinegar and oil.
- Stir into beans, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I’ll post the other dishes later this week.
In the meantime – mon mari has been working.
He decided on wood paneling over the stone on the wall shared with the barn and wallboard over the chimney. This is a small room and we decided to make it interesting.
He decided that rather than trying to replace the original door going into the barn (the one with the cat-hole) he would make another door to ‘cover’ it.
The new door opens in; the barn door opens out.
Both doors are not proper ‘door’ shapes so replacing / buying one to fit was not really an option.
We’re keeping it as a fire escape….
I finished braiding the onions.
I didn’t cut the tops off the onions so they were much easier to braid than the shallots.
I hung them all over mon mari’s tools as I finished them.
I can’t reach the nails mon mari put up to hang them.
I figured if I draped them from his table saw and thickness planer and toolbox he’d get the hint and hang them up.
He did.
If you want nutrition information, try this site: Calorie Count
