We recently had lunch at the National Gallery in Washington, DC…one of the paintings we lingered at was this one.  Well, we didn’t share a loaf of bread like this family, but Jack and I did stop for lunch not once, but twice, as we could not resist returning the next day, and between us and between the two days we managed to sample all of the delicious salads offered for lunch.  We copied the menu and have duplicated some of them.  This salad is one of them.  It had never occurred to me to roast green beans, but once I tried them in a salad, I was certainly delighted to add roasted green beans to my repertoire.

Ingredients:

1. 24 ounces haricots verts
2. 1or 2-tablespoon olive oil
3. 2 cups mushrooms , thinly sliced
4. 1-2 tablespoons of butter
5. 1/3 cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
6. 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
7. 5 tablespoons olive oil
8. salt & pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees 

1. Wash (if needed) the haricots verts and then dry them thoroughly.
2. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
3. Spread the 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on the aluminum foiled lined pan.
4. Place the green beans in the pan and toast with your hands to coat them with the oil.
5. Roast for 20 minutes, checking a couple of times. The beans should be parched and somewhat burned, but not black.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and add the hazel nuts. Roast for another 5 minutes.
7. While the beans are roasting, slice the mushrooms (I used baby shiitake mushrooms and they worked well, but any tender mushrooms would do)
8. Using a sauté pan, sauté the mushrooms in the butter until tender.  Set aside.
9. Meanwhile, combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper and mix thoroughly.
10. Remove the beans from the pan when done, allow to cool a bit, transfer to a serving dish.
11. Toss with the red wine vinaigrette and chill. Can be done up to 2 days in advance.