Marinated Green Beans

Today the Hunky Hubster (hereinafter referred to as HH)and I had to make a painful visit to the DMV(is any visit there ever anything LESS than painful?). Well there is a bright spot to this less-than-joyous trip and that is that there is a fruit stand on the way back!! Hallelujah! So I made my poor, tired, worn-out HH stop on the way home so I could pick up a fresh veggie for tonight's dinner. I wandered through the small, tight aisles looking for the perfect vegetable to complement the grilled tri-tip we were having. I saw small, too-firm avocados; beautiful, misshapen turnips; fragrant herbs, and some truly luscious fruit. I spied the long, slender, firm green beans and I was sold! I picked up a couple pounds of those beauties and away we went. I arrived home with my precious bundle and immediately searched the Internet to find the perfect recipe, preferable one using ingredients I already had on hand, as the HH made a beeline for the bedroom as soon as we got home. I was lucky I wasn't caught in the vapor trail! After a few keystrokes into the Great Google Machine, this is the recipe I found: Marinated Green Beans

The recipe requires you to chill it at least 3 hours before serving and I didn't do this as I didn't have the time, but I did chill the green beans in an ice water bath for quite a while). Enjoy!
P.S. I completely spaced out taking a photo - SORRY!!

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Tonight's dinner was a Crock Pot delight. I wasn't sure how it was going to taste but I was pleasantly surprised! It was SOOOOO good. So many different flavors just danced on the tongue in a ballet of savory richness!!! I found this recipe at Yummly.com. I served it over brown rice and for a side dish we had the left over nectarine salsa and bok choy slaw from last night.

While revamping my blog, I couldn't find this exact recipe at Yummly.com, but I did find it at GroupRecipes.com and the person who posted it said it came from Woman's Day. Just click on the link below for the recipe.

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Here are the photos I took while preparing the dish.