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Side dish Salad: Green Bean & Cauliflower Salad with bacon and pesto

Our July/August 2015 issue of Cuisine at home arrived this week, and it was the inspiration for my version of a recipe in their magazine. The green beans and cauliflower were blanched for just minutes/seconds (3 min. for green beans; 30 sec. for cauliflower) in the original recipe but we much preferred cooking them to a tender-crisp consistency.

Green Bean & Cauliflower Salad with bacon and pesto
Salad
   1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed & halved
   1 lb. fresh cauliflower floret
   1 cup halved grape tomatoes (I used an heirloom blend)
   7 strips bacon, diced, cooked until crisp
   Toasted pine nuts 
Pesto Dressing
   ¾ to 1 cup prepared pesto
   ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
   Extra olive oil to thin pesto
  1. Cook green beans and cauliflower in boiling salted water until tender-crisp (or steam if preferred).
  2. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking.
  3. Dry and completely dry the vegetables (a salad spinner works well for this task).
  4. Transfer veggies to a platter; add tomatoes and bacon.
  5. Combine ingredients for Pesto Dressing.
  6. Garnish vegetables with pine nuts and serve with Pesto Dressing.
Recipe without photos . . .
Green Bean & Cauliflower Salad with bacon and pesto
Salad
   1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed & halved
   1 lb. fresh cauliflower floret
   1 cup halved grape tomatoes (I used an heirloom blend)
   7 strips bacon, diced, cooked until crisp
   Toasted pine nuts 
Pesto Dressing
   ¾ to 1 cup prepared pesto
   ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
   Extra olive oil to thin pesto
  1. Cook green beans and cauliflower in boiling salted water until tender-crisp (or steam if preferred).
  2. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking.
  3. Dry and completely dry the vegetables (a salad spinner works well for this task).
  4. Transfer veggies to a platter; add tomatoes and bacon.
  5. Combine ingredients for Pesto Dressing.
  6. Garnish vegetables with pine nuts and serve with Pesto Dressing.

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