purple-green bean salad with balsamic red onion

I entered this recipe for the the “Grow Your Own” food blog roundup, created by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes, which features dishes using ingredients which have been raised in our own (or someone else's) gardens or have been hunted or foraged. The event was hosted by House of Annie http://chezannies.blogspot.com/, look here to see all the entries.

http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2010/02/grow-your-own-roundup-38.html


Thank you so much for hosting this Annie and Nathan.

To all bloggers: the next time you post about cooking something you've raised / grown / harvested / foraged, remember to submit it to the GYO roundup. Keep an eye out on either the House of Annie site or Andrea's Recipes for the next GYO announcement.

from my garden

I pick yellow beans every day now, and every few days, purple beans. The purple beans are beautiful, but unfortunately they loose their colour while cooking. I tried to add salt and a pinch of baking soda to the water...nothing, the purple colour just washes away....but they do become an incredible brilliant green!!!

To remember that they were purple. I decided to serve them with a red onion, (from my garden), and this is my recipe:

Cut the red onion into thin slices, put into a bowl with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (ABTM). Let the onion marinate for at least two hours.

Wash and top and tail the purple beans, boil them in plenty of water with a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking soda. I like to leave them a little crunchy, but you can cook them to your taste. Drain the beans and rinse them under cold water, then dress them with a little extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place them in a glass and top them with some balsamic onions.

Serve.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©