Grüner Bohnensalat
Green Bean Salad and Variations

Ingredients:

Beans:
1 lb. green beans
optional also,
1 cup white beans (1 small can)
1 cup kidney beans (1 small can)
1 cup garbanzo beans (1 small can)

1 /2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (optional)

Sauce
1/4 cup stock reserved from boiling the green beans
beef boullion (optional)
3 tablespoond vinegar (cider, rice, white wine)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Herbs , like an Italian seasoning blend, or dill weed, fresh or dried.

Directions:

1. Blanch the Beans in water or if you like some beef stock with the Bohnenkraut. If using fresh tie in a bundle, then remove when beans are finished.
This takes some watching. After 5 minutes test one and see if it is done to your liking. If they are too crunchy cook and extra 2-5 minutes or more if you like them soft.

2. Drain and keep some of the stock for the dressing.
Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. This will set the color of the beans also. Nice fresh beans like this taste good just by themselves.

3. If the Beans are large they can be a bit tough and folks like to French cut them either with a tool or you can cut them on a diagonal also.

4. Some folks will just freehand sprinkle a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper just to accent the nice fresh taste of these beans. Otherwise mix the ingredients of the dressing in the bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

5. I like a slightly thickened dressing that you see when you open up a can of 3 or 4 bean salad, So I use a very little Xanathan gum, a natural product. You can just add a tiny amount to the cold salad dressing and it will thicken it. One way to thicken the dressing for 3 bean salad, is with a product called Xanathan gum. This is a bad choice of names I think, making it sound like it has been brewed in lab. I have read about it and can't really explain it but it is gluten free. This kind of gum is used in thickening most of your bottled salad dressings that you buy. I think that they use way too much!

6.