Crunchy Green and Red Salad
Crunchy red onions and crisp green beans make up this green and red salad. It’s truly a super simple salad that takes full advantage of garden or farmer’s market produce.
Only three ingredients make up this cool, crunchy salad. You can make it up in a couple of minutes and serve alongside your grilled supper. No sweat!
Summer means salad. When it’s too hot to cook, it’s often tough to work up much of an appetite. In fact, there are quite a few summer nights, we simply bypass supper and just eat a bowl of ice cream.
I know that sounds like poor parenting, right? Well, if you eat a balanced diet the majority of the time, then who cares if you “play hooky” once in a while.
I picked up some really nice, big, juicy red onions at the grocery. I didn’t realize they were juicy until I sliced into them. Wow! Talk about fragrant, too! I think red onions are so pretty! They have a bit more bite than I normally like, but my husband loves them in large chunks.
I love the look of the rings and layers in red onions. You just don’t have that contrast in yellow or white onions.
The trick to slicing onions … everybody always wants to know, how do you slice them without crying a river?
I’ve heard many options – slice under running water, cut with a stainless steel knife, rub lemon juice under your nose, think happy thoughts and ignore the smell. Now, if any of those tricks work for you, please let me know!
I’ve found that a good sharp knife that makes clean cuts is better than a dull one that mashes its way through the onion. I’ve seen those glass jars with the chopper top, that keeps the onion odor all contained. These are two things that really work. I usually just have a clean kitchen towel handy to wipe away the tears.
Crunchy Green and Red Salad Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 c Red Onion
- 2 c Green Beans
- 1/2 c Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
Recipe Directions:
- Slice the red onion into thin slices and cut the slices into half inch pieces.
- Blanch green beans.
- Toss red onions and green beans with dressing.
For #ConvenieceCooking, I used a bottle of Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing that I found at my grocer. Its one of my go-to short cuts. However, if you’re trying to control sodium or corn syrup in your diet, you may want to make up your own dressing. It is nearly as easy as opening the bottle I have in the fridge.
Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 TB Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1/2 c Olive Oil
Recipe Directions:
- Mix all ingredients together.
You can’t get much easier than that for homemade, now can you?
[bctt tweet=”Three ingredients. Red Onion and Green Bean Crunchy Salad with a balsamic dressing. Can’t go wrong! ” username=”ApronFreeCook”]
Approximate Nutritional Information:
Servings Per Recipe: 4, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 250, Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 0g, Sodium: 208mg, Carbs: 47g, Protein: 6g
Make It a Meal:
Serve with sandwiches for a cool supper. Add to the potluck table at your next family gathering. Package individual servings in Mason jars and take for lunch at work. This salad can go places!
This salad keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of days but doesn’t freeze well. I suggest making smaller portions frequently if you want to eat this often. Since it’s easy to make up, you won’t mind repeating the steps every few days.
I also used frozen green beans, since the ones in my garden are not quite ready. Blanching is a quick cooking method that anybody can do. It is a simple process, with a fancy name.
Fill a pan with water and bring it to a boil. Fill another large pan with ice water. Fill a heat proof strainer or colander with the green beans. Place the colander of green beans in the boiling water for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the colander and plunge the beans into the ice water.
For safety, use hot pads or pot holders … a metal colander will get pretty darn hot sitting in boiling water. If you have a large slotted spoon or a long handled strainer, you could place the green beans directly into the water. Then use your spoon or strainer to scoop the vegetables out to place in the ice water.
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