Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Update

In today's edition of Animal, Vegetable, Mineral,  I give you the the Grizzly Bears at the Minnesota Zoo.  Every time we have gone to see the much touted, state of the art exhibit, complete with geysers, bubbling mud pits and a real trout stream, those bears were sleeping on the sand.  But not this time!  They were wrestling each other in the pond right in front of us.  It was awesome.

She especially thought so.

Your vegetable today is Haricots Vert.  Otherwise known as green beans.  I'm a big fan of things you can serve at room temperature and this recipe from Martha doesn't disappoint on a picnic or at a cookout.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons coarse-grained mustard
• 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt
• 1 1/2 pounds haricot verts, trimmed
• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together mustards and the vinegar. Whisking constantly, add the oil in a steady stream; continue whisking until mixture is smooth and emulsified.
2. Prepare an ice bath; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Add beans, and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes; drain. Transfer beans to an ice bath to stop cooking; drain well.
3. Toss beans with onion and vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

And finally, the mineral I like and therefore you will too is from Stella and Dot.  My girlfriend had it on the other night at dinner and it was stunning.

Belle Fleur Ring -- Gold And it's $49.00

In case you can't see the ring, I added a link.