This post is not quite a recipe— it’s more a musing on the passing of time, and how I’m going to miss my grandmother’s garden. Though I did cook something with her this summer, something delicious.
My aunt’s garden had a ton of beans this summer— and so my grandmother made green bean salad. It’s a dish I’ve had at her place many times, but never stopped to think what was in it.
My aunt has taken over, in a way, as top gardener in the family. After a lifetime of tending flowers and tomatoes, of always having in-season veggies handy, of having freshly cut flowers on her kitchen table, my grandmother’s decided she’s had it with gardening. And so I’ve been helping her scale her garden back.
At some point, I’ll look back on this summer with an intense feeling of melancholy. Though right now, I feel happy that I could help her out, with digging and raking— and glad I had a notebook handy to jot down some of her cooking secrets. I’d rather remember her garden the way it was: big, wonderful, the place where her delicious meals came from. (I think she may have inadvertently inspired me to go vegetarian in the first place.)
Ingredients
green beans, fresh
thinly sliced sweet onion
mayonnaise
sour cream (optional)
diced green onions (optional)
1. Fill a pot with enough water to just barely cover your beans.
2. Trim off the stems, and French cut your beans.
2. Drop the green beans into boiling water for just under two minutes.
3. Drain, and shock the beans in cold water.
4. While the beans are cooling, slice some white or sweet onions. How much onion you use is up to you— but I would say about 1/4 a medium onion for every 1/2 pound of beans.
5. When the beans have cooled, mix the onion, beans, mayo and sour cream together. You want about a spoonful of mayo for every 1/2 pound of beans, and sour cream to taste.
6. Serve chilled.
Green bean salad
Ingredients
green beans, fresh
thinly sliced sweet onion
mayonnaise
sour cream (optional)
diced green onions (optional)
1. Fill a pot with enough water to just barely cover your beans.
2. Trim off the stems, and French cut your beans.
2. Drop the green beans into boiling water for just under two minutes.
3. Drain, and shock the beans in cold water.
4. While the beans are cooling, slice some white or sweet onions. How much onion you use is up to you— but I would say about 1/4 a medium onion for every 1/2 pound of beans.
5. When the beans have cooled, mix the onion, beans, mayo and sour cream together. You want about a spoonful of mayo for every 1/2 pound of beans, and sour cream to taste.
6. Serve chilled.
Detroiter in Poland 
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