Easy green bean salad

One of the reasons I love green beans is that you generally get a good yield, but not so much that you’re bombarded the way you are with zucchini.

Another reason: there’s so much you can do with green beans. A few years ago, I experimented with some different ways to use them and created a salad with a yogurt and mustard dressing that I particularly love. I decided to riff on that here, but used a vinaigrette instead, and added sliced olives, hardboiled eggs, and flat-leaf parsley.

Olive, egg, and green bean salad

About 1 lb. green or wax beans (the yellow ones) or a combination, stem ends plucked off

A handful of sliced kalamata olives

2 to 3 hardboiled eggs, roughly chopped

About ½ cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus some whole leaves

Good extra-virgin olive oil (it matters in a recipe this simple)

Red wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook green beans in boiling water until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain, then run cold water over them until they’re cool. Pat dry.

2. Whisk together olives, some of the egg, the chopped parsley, a few tbsp. olive oil, and a splash of vinegar. Spoon over green beans. Top with remaining egg, some parsley leaves, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of pepper.

This would be particularly good with a piece of grilled fish for a nice, light summer dinner.

What do you like to do with green beans?  Any tips for easy preparation?