Steam the green beans until they are a beautiful green color, and sweet. You do not want to overcook them. I would start tasting them at about four minutes of steaming, or when you notice they are starting to change color. (If you overcook them past them tasting like candy, just abandon the salad idea and do something else with them.) When the beans are cooked perfectly remove them from the heat and immerse them immediately in a bowl of cold water. Drain them and put them in a big bowl. Add the sweet onion slivers. I then add a quarter to a half cup of balsamic vinaigrette and toss. Here’s the balsamic vinaigrette:

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

3/8 cup olive oil

a pinch of salt

a pinch of pepper

Taste it, and if it seems bitter add up to a teaspoon of brown sugar.

You can also add a little bit of dijon mustard (1/2 teaspoon) to give it a kick.

This will make about half a cup, so you might have a little left over.

Once the salad is made and dressed, go hide it in the refrigerator so no one else can find it. It will taste even better if you can leave it alone for a couple of hours while it chills. I find it difficult to stop sticking a fork in it once it’s made, but you may have more willpower. You can also serve it at room temperature.

I have added halved grape tomatoes to this salad before, but only if they are very sweet like the ones we received a few weeks ago from Space Girl. It takes on a different character with the tomatoes added, and it’s visually very pretty.

The best thing about this salad is that you can make it with just green beans, and a sweet onion. It will take a lot of different vinaigrettes, so if you don’t have balsamic vinegar on hand, just make your favorite vinaigrette and try it.

Happy cooking!