Warm Green Bean Salad w/ Bacon Vinaigrette


This is a take on Jody Williams' (owner of Buvette in NYC and Paris) yellow wax bean salad in last month's Bon Appetit.

A great recipe to use my garden fresh green beans.
I am only growing green beans, and couldn't find yellow ones this week, so will you please excuse the color of the beans and pretend they are yellow.

I took the liberty of adding toasted walnuts and a 7 minute egg to make this a main dish salad.

Easy and DELICIOUS.

Warm Yellow OR Green Bean Salad w/ Bacon Vinaigrette: (adapted from Bon Appetit)

2 pounds yellow wax beans (or green beans if you can't find yellow), trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces thickly sliced bacon, cut into lardons
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small shallot, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped basil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
handful of toasted walnuts (optional)
2-3 hard boiled eggs (optional)

Cook the beans in a large pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the beans and cool them under cold running water. Drain well and pat dry; transfer the beans to a large bowl.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the vinegar, tomatoes, shallot and garlic.

Spoon the bacon vinaigrette over the beans, season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle fresh basil on top.
Serve warm.


Comments

Katie C. said…
Maybe you can explain to me why recipes add oil to a pan where bacon is going to be fried. I don't understand the need. The bacon fat usually renders out. With both, you end up swimming in fat?
Stacey Snacks said…
Katie,
I always add oil to my bacon, since I only use natural bacon made locally, it is very lean and will burn in the pan if there is no oil.
If you are using Oscar Meyer, then you probably don't need to use the oil.

You're a good enough cook to figure that one out!

It's a personal preference (I also add oil to the pan when frying sausage, or it sticks).
Natalia said…
This looks fantastic and we too have green beans from our garden already. Do you think it's ok to substitute pancetta for the bacon? (I'm not fond of bacon).
Katie C. said…
I didn't realize there was bacon that was that lean. We also see Lidia B. do this with the oil and bacon on tv so I was wondering...then again, she's always had a heavy hand with the EVOO but her recipes are good. I tend to ease up on the oil. I have high cholesterol so bacon is a special treat but wait until those tomatoes come in. I'm going to have the best BLT there is!
I pour olive oil in my sleep, it always makes everything better! Pretty salad!