Julie Water's Fresh Green Bean Salad

Green beans are available and delicious during the summer. The traditional southern way to cook them is to put some bacon or pork back with them and cook them slow and long. This is delicious, comfort food to many of us, but not the healtiest way of preparing them. When I had them in my garden, I would pick the young, small ones and stir-fry them tender-crisp in olive oil with a bit of garlic. But it is hard to find small, tender ones in the markets. The recipe below is from a friend of mine from California, Julie Manning Waters. I saw her talking about it on facebook and it sounds great. I want to try it this week. Give it a try and let me know if you have a good, healthy way to prepare and serve green beans.Thanks, Julie!

Julie Water's Fresh Green Bean Salad

1 lb. fresh green beans
1 med. tomato, diced
1 avocado, diced
salt to taste
Lemon Pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

1. Steam green beans until tender crisp. If you do not have a steamer, you could blanche them in boiling water for only 1-2 minutes.

2. Rinse in cold water until cool to stop the cooking process and refrigerate.

3. When cold, add beans to diced tomato and avocado. Toss with salt and lemon pepper to taste.

4. Dress the salad with the balsamic vinegar. Start with 1/4 c. Add more if needed. Toss, cover and refrigerate until all the ingredients are cold.

Ta-Da!(Julie's comment)