Recipe 108: Baby Limas, Green and Yellow Beans and Teardrop Tomatoes with mint vinaigrette

The challenge: Finding Yellow beans at the farmer's market. I did not grow my own, and do not get a whole pound at a time or even 8 ounces at once yet in my small garden. Challenge 2: Lima beans-I gave in and bought them frozen for this purpose. You have to use them quick around our houses as lima beans and/or peas get used as ice packs as well around these houses.

The recipe: Shallot, rice vinegar(which I almost forgot-James saved the day to go get it when I was too tired), Mint, grapeseed oil(or flaxseed or olive oils), sugar, salt, yellow wax beans, green beans, baby lima beans, red and yellow teardrop tomatoes, chopped fresh lemon basil, cilantro, and fresh ground black pepper.

First, mix the shallot, rice vinegar, mint and oil in a small bowl and set aside. Next, prepare an ice bath then begin cooking the yellow and green beans. Bring a pot of water to a boil add the yellow and green beans to the water for about 4 minutes, until crisp tender, then cool and while they are cooling, cook the lima beans then cool them in the ice bath. When the beans are cool enough to handle, remove them from the ice batch and drain well. In a medium bowl, toss the beans with 2 T. of the vinaigrette.

In a large salad bowl, combine the wax beans, green beans, lima beans, halved tomatoes and remaining vinaigrette. Add the lemon basil(I used the basil growing in my backyard) and cilantro and stir or toss gently to combine. Add the salt and fresh ground pepper and stir to taste. Enjoy.

The take: This recipe was pretty good, but was not stellar. The beans needed to be used, and could have stood to be blanched for another moment. I will admit, I was tired enough and cranky enough to get James to mince the shallot, and as I was cooking it he looked at me and asked how far I was in the book again. It wasn't this recipe specifically, more that I just hadn't had a chance to slow down lately, and work has been placing demands on me. I think we are all taking a break after this one. Though I will be doing more cooking over all. I have a fridge and kitchen full of vegetables to use up right now. I may make this recipe again, but likely, once or twice a year, when I find yellow beans at the farmer's market and wish to prove that I can figure out how to blanch green beans. Next time, I will cut them smaller too. This recipe only calls for the stem ends to be trimmed. Now on to make pickles;-).