Random Food Fridays - Green Bean Salad

I feel very fortunate that I love veggies. I love to bake. I love to jam. And, although I love careful and artful technique, fresh and simple often wins the day. I can tell you that I made just as many yummy noises over this salad as I did over last week's apple pie. This is adapted from a recipe by Terri McKay on allrecipes.com. I actually like to multiply the dressing by about 8 and keep it on hand. I like using toasted sliced almonds instead of sesame seeds, mostly because I love toasted sliced almonds. They add the perfect crunchy kick and compliment the toasty flavor of the sesame oil. The nuts also add enough protein that I can take this for my lunch without much else. I also love to make this with fresh asparagus.
Green Bean Salad
1 lb. fresh green beans (or asparagus)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. canola oil
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. salt
freshly cracked pepper to taste
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds

Clean and steam green beans until tender crisp. Plunge into ice water. Drain well.
Mix dressing ingredients and toss with green beans. This benefits from marinating some time before serving. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds just before serving.

Enough dressing to have on hand:
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 tbsp. canola oil
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. salt
freshly cracked pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container in the fridge. This dressing is highly flavorful and salty, so use a light hand when dressing your salad.