Warm Green Bean Salad with Honey Sesame Dressing and Toasted Sesame Seeds

Warm, Tender, Crisp, Young Beans Topped with Honey Sesame Dressing and Toasted Sesame Seeds.

I love, love, love green beans and now you can almost always find the fresh Harcourt's Verts, a slender and tender French green bean variety that is perfect for this dish! I buy them at Sam's Club for the very best price on a 2 pound bag.  They are perfect to blanch and shock then saute at any time for a quick fix dish.


Asian Honey Sesame Dressing Ingredients:

3 T. sesame oil
6 T. rice wine vinegar
5 T. honey
6 T. soy sauce
6 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 shakes of white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a pint jar and after tightly screwing on the lid shake until well blended.  Refrigerate until needed.  Delicious on green salads, wilted vegetables, and as a dipping sauce.

Toasting sesame seeds.

Toast sesame seeds a few tablespoons at a time in a dry skillet over medium heat until just golden.

To prepare beans bring a large kettle of water to a rolling boil.  Add salt and the beans.  (I used about a half of a pound.)   Bring back to the boil for 2 minutes.  Remove the beans from the boiling water with a spider or slotted spoon and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice and water.  When cold drain and let air dry a few minutes.

To complete the salad heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet and toss in the beans and stir fry until heated through and slightly wilted.  Turn off the heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the dressing tossing the vegetables to coat.  Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve warm.

Green bean salad and scalloped potatoes with ham.

This makes a nice salad or side dish and serves 3-4.  The link to my potato recipe is    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2011/05/gratin-dauphinois-scalloped-potatoes-au.html
and is easily made.  You can also add ham or sausages to the casserole in a layer before baking for a hearty main dish.