Category: Sustenance

This has become a favorite dish.  The recipe is from the May 2009 issue of Food & Wine magazine and I make it pretty much exactly as written although I sometimes use more curry paste, depending on the brand I happen to have on hand at any given moment and its relative heat.  The grocery store brands are usually milder than the one I used to get at the local Thai grocery, but the Thai grocery closed and now my options are more limited.   You can find the recipe online here. 

 

These may have been the last of the local zucchini as we had a mild frost a few days ago and again last night.  Tomato production has moved into high gear on my plants since I moved them to the warmth of the sun porch and I had enough tomatoes to make this dish and have more during the week.  It is kind of nice to have something still ripening on the vine as everything else is dying back and preparing for winter.  Although I buy as much as possible from local farmers, I had forgotten how nice it was to have food grown by my own hand on the table.

 

I made one of our favorite salads for lunch on Monday with fresh green beans from the Rhinebeck Farmer's Market and cherry tomatoes from my own plants, now safely residing on the sun porch in order to continue the harvest.

 

The recipe is from The Accidental Vegan by Devra Gartenstein.   Now I will admit that I am not a vegan and not particularly tempted to abandon my meat-loving ways, but there are several recipes in this book that have become staples in this household, especially among the salads and soups.  

 

This is basically the recipe in the book, except that I left out the dill and I use less oil.  Also Ms. Gartenstein states that this serves 4 – 6 and I cannot imagine dividing this between 6 people.  It makes 4 small servings, and we have been frequently known to divide the entire recipe between the two of us.

 

Green Bean and Almond Salad

 

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise

10 cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters    

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

black pepper to taste

 

Blanch the green beans by dropping them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then draining them and rinsing them immediately with cold water to cool.  Alternately plunge them into a bowl of ice water after draining.

 

Combine the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Stir in the tomatoes and the beans and toss to combine well.  Add the almonds, toss, and serve,

 

note:

There is usually dressing left over in the bowl after serving this salad.  This is a combination of the oil and vinegar and the juice from the tomatoes and it is wonderful.  Frankly I just want to drink it, but I don't.  I save it and it makes a fabulous dressing for a simple salad.