Warm Green Bean Salad w/ Bacon Vinaigrette

This is a take on Jody Williams' (owner of Buvette in NYC and Paris) yellow wax bean salad in last month's Bon Appetit.

A great recipe to use my garden fresh green beans.
I am only growing green beans, and couldn't find yellow ones this week, so will you please excuse the color of the beans and pretend they are yellow.

I took the liberty of adding toasted walnuts and a 7 minute egg to make this a main dish salad.

Easy and DELICIOUS.

Warm Yellow OR Green Bean Salad w/ Bacon Vinaigrette: (adapted from Bon Appetit)

2 pounds yellow wax beans (or green beans if you can't find yellow), trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces thickly sliced bacon, cut into lardons
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small shallot, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped basil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
handful of toasted walnuts (optional)
2-3 hard boiled eggs (optional)

Cook the beans in a large pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the beans and cool them under cold running water. Drain well and pat dry; transfer the beans to a large bowl.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the vinegar, tomatoes, shallot and garlic.

Spoon the bacon vinaigrette over the beans, season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle fresh basil on top.
Serve warm.