Bold and Crunchy Green Beans

by Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches

I keep wondering when our CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) share will start to dry up...it is fall, after all and I can't imagine it going on into winter. But so far, so good. We are still swimming in beautiful locally grown, organic vegetables and I'm not about to start complaining one bit.

With this batch of fresh and crunchy beans, I didn't want to roast or boil them into oblivion. To keep their crunch and colour, I steamed them lightly until they turned bright green (just a minute or so). Then quickly sauteed them with some ginger, garlic and some walnuts for added texture and crunch. I finished this dish off with a squeeze of lemon and a light sprinkle of sea salt. The end result was fantastic. Giant, bold flavours and the perfect way to preserve all the goodness of summer.

Bold Green Beans
1 lb green beans, ends trimmed
1 T olive oil
1 T thinly sliced ginger
1 fat clove of garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 c walnuts, broken into large pieces
1/4 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Add 1 inch of water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the green beans. Cover and steam for about 1 minute or so, until the beans turns bright green. Drain and set aside. If you are making these in advance, plunge the beans into a bowl of ice water until cool, and then drain.

2. In a large fry pan, heat olive oil on med-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic, pepper, walnuts and the green beans. Sautee for a couple of minutes until the green beans are coated and the garlic, ginger and walnuts turn golden.

3. Place beans on a large serving platter and add the golden bits of garlic, ginger and walnuts over top. Squeeze lemon juice over top, sprinkle with kosher salt and serve immediately.

Jan Halvarson

7 comments:

pixelimpress said...

oh, those look yummy! now you have me craving green beans. better for than the waistline than craving chocolate though. pam

The pale observer said...

YUM!!! I'm going to make those tomorrow!

katy said...

I'm loving the green beans right now too. I just made some "garlic green beans" last night. My inspiration was those delish beans that Chinese restaurants do so well. Instead of all ginger goodness you added to yours I added dried garlic, cayenne pepper and salt to my fry pan. It really turned out great. I'm excited to try your recipe. Nuts with any kind of veggie is super in my book!

Roving Lemon said...

What a great idea! I have a tendency to fall into a rut when preparing vegetables--this looks like a great way to shake things up. I wonder if it's green bean season here in Australia yet....

Meghan said...

mmm... that looks delicious! i'll have to add that to my recipes. i love that it uses walnuts instead of the normal boring slivered almonds.
i like to saute green beans with butter and tarragon and lime zest, then toss them with a squeeze of lime juice when they're done. it sounds strange, but it's delicious!

A Life So Peachy said...

oh they look sooo good! YUM!

Linda said...

I bookmarked this and made them tonight and they were so delicsh!!!! I ate enough for 2 maybe 3 people when normally I'd just eat a few because they are good for me. Thanks!

L.