Late Summer Garden Salad

Ingredients:
Yellow Wax beans
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Olive oil
Lemon
Fresh ground pepper
In a pot of salted water, par-boil the yellow wax beans until just barely soft.  Drain and then toss into ice water to stop the cooking process.  In a medium sized pan over medium-high heat, add 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and the beans; toss to coat and let cook until slightly browned and a little bit crispy.  Don’t let the beans cook too long – they will either burn, or become too soft and overcooked.
While the beans are cooking, core and slice the tomatoes and cucumbers into wedges.  Place these in a serving bowl with a pinch of salt.  When the beans are cooked through and starting to brown, pour the beans – with oil – into the serving bowl.  Toss to mix all the ingredients and coat the cucumbers and tomatoes with oil (you might need to add additional oil).  Squeeze a lemon wedge or two on top and a few turns of fresh ground pepper.  Another variation could be to add a little bit of red wine vinegar once the vegetables have been mixed.  Would also work cold as a picnic/barbecue side dish.
Don’t sweat the small stuff (i.e. exact quantities) as cooking, and therefore eating, should enhance life and be enjoyable, and not a stressful process made worse be having to measure out every ingredient.