George & Julie’s side dish

For the 4th of July Potluck BBQ-Pool Party, I asked guests to bring a salad, a side, or a dessert. George, who works with Dave, said he’d bring a side. When he told his wife, Julie, it turns out there was some discussion about what constitutes a side dish. Julie wanted to bring a pasta salad, or maybe a grilled vegetable salad or some other sort of dish with the word “salad” in it. All of which George put the kibosh on because they were “salads” and he signed up for a “side.”

Of course, anything they brought would have been just fine and greatly appreciated. They agreed this chilled green bean side dish would qualify as a side and all was right with the world.

Indeed it was, and it was delicious! Julie found the recipe on Rachael Ray’s website.

Here Dave is giving George a little grieve about giving Julie grieve about what is a salad and what is a side!

This is, Coney, he is the resident lifeguard at our pool. He may not have eyes to watch over swimmers, but his buff body keeps people in line!

Chilled Green Beans with Peanut-Ginger Dressing

Kosher salt
2 pounds green beans, trimmed
1 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse under cold water and drain again. Refrigerate.

In a food processor, pulse the peanuts until coarsely chopped. Reserve 1/3 cup of the chopped peanuts for garnish.

Continue pulsing the remaining peanuts until finely chopped. Add the vinegar, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, oil, plus 2 tablespoons of hot water and 1 teaspoon of salt to the peanuts and blend until the dressing is almost smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

Toss the green beans with the dressing. Sprinkle the reserved chopped peanuts over the green beans just before serving.

Serves 8 to 10