Green Bean Recipes

[CtznCane]

Green Beans are probably my favorite vegatable. Not only are they good they're cheap so that is a handy plus as well. I'd like to find more ways for cooking them.

My own personal favorite is after blanching the beans, to chop up bacon and cook the bacon. Reserving the bacon I pour out the excess fat just keeping a small amount of the bacon fat and sautee a little bit of shalot. Then I'll add a touch of butter and about an ounce or two of bourbon. Then the beans, then the bacon bits and then either some pine nuts (toasted or not depending on my mood) or pecans. And of course salt and pepper.

In never get tired of them but I"d like to have as many options as possible. Ideas? Recipes?

[spoonbread]

I like mine blanched and mixed with sesame oil, sesame seeds, peanuts and sambaal.

[Basilgirl]

My own personal favorite is after blanching the beans, to chop up bacon and cook the bacon. Reserving the bacon I pour out the excess fat just keeping a small amount of the bacon fat and sautee a little bit of shalot. Then I'll add a touch of butter and about an ounce or two of bourbon. Then the beans, then the bacon bits and then either some pine nuts (toasted or not depending on my mood) or pecans. And of course salt and pepper.

Yum! That sounds great.

My favorite way to cook green beans is to roast them with olive oil, salt & pepper, and garlic. When they're done I toss them with lemon juice mixed with a little bit of mashed up anchovies. This is from Nancy Verde Barr's "Make It Italian" cookbook, but I first came across it in one of those Best American Recipes - the year's best recipes from books, magazines, the Internet etc. - books. Great cookbook series, by the way.

I also like to do a Provencal type thing - marinate lightly cooked green beans in a vinaigrette of olive oil, white wine vinegar, shallots, garlic, thyme, and lots of Nicoise or Kalamata olives. Serve cold or at room temperature.

[hillvalley]

My favorite way to cook green beans is to roast them with olive oil, salt & pepper, and garlic. When they're done I toss them with lemon juice mixed with a little bit of mashed up anchovies. I

I do a similiar recipe except I add red onions to the beans and garlic and when it is finished I spash on some balsamic vinegar.

[sassybat]

my favorite is blanched, then sauteed with olive oil and garlic, served up with lemon juice and some salt.

[tanabutler]

Briefly steamed, then tossed with lemon olive oil, red bell peppers, either fresh basil or tarragon, and kosher flake salt.

[Squeat Mungry]

my favorite is blanched, then sauteed with olive oil and garlic, served up with lemon juice and some salt.

That's the way I do it, too. Or roast with olive oil and garlic. Green beans were made for garlic!

[eunny jang]

I mentioned in the "Dinner" thread my favorite way of making green beans: parboiled briefly in heavily salted water and then sauteed with a little olive oil and a little whole-grain mustard, just till the seeds start to pop and the beans are heated through. Pepper if it needs it.

It's a great side dish that takes about five minutes to make, pleases a lot of people, and offends almost no one. It goes well with a lot of things.

I also love green beans cooked very quickly in a scalding hot pan with a little peanut oil and crushed red pepper until they get charred spots. I usually drizzle these with a little sesame oil.

[Monica Bhide]

You mean I am not weird??? Monica and Green beans

[Basilgirl]

Rachael Ray made haricots verts "fries" the other day.

[Jason Perlow]

We like to blanch them and toss them in a Japanese Goma-Ae sauce (made from toasted ground sesame seeds with soya, sugar and dashi broth) which can be used on any green vegetable. The most common way it is eaten is with spinach but you can use any leafy green or green beans or even broccoli.

The recipe is from Torakris' eGCI Course on Japanese Cooking:

http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r327.html

Here is one we made with white Swiss Chard recently:

[fifi]

This is my "go to" recipe when fresh green beans show up in the market.

Green Beans (Southern Style)

[mags]

Oooh, Fifi, that sounds great! I like my green beans pretty well dead -- undercooked, says La Bella Marcella, they taste like grass, and I agree. But smothered (I do it with tomatoes and garlic) -- mmmmm mmmmm.

[get in my belly]

take about a pound of bacon cooked a little and three cloves of garlic chopped and one large onion chopped and some smithfield ham and some tomatoes chopped throw it in a pan with chicken stock until the beans almost fall apart mmmmmmmmmmm corn bread and some great nothern beans ......... oh man im hungry now ...drool drool

[bloviatrix]

I often parboil them and then just toss with some toasted sesame oil and kosher salt. Sauteeing them with minced garlic and ginger and the sesame oil is also good.

The other thing I frequently do after parboiling is toss them with either a tarragon-dill vinagrette or dill mayo that I make.

[get in my belly]

that too fifi i didnt see the post but that sounds just as good and you have the recipie also good stuff.ive made this in a couple of restaurants for specials of the day and people caome back wanting them but they take awhile to cook down and there is no substituting time in this one . potato encrusted walleye with low country green beans buttered favas and a slice of sweet corn bread . finished with the pot liquour ...mmmmmmmmmmmm

[mikeycook]

My favorite ways are:

1. Blanched and tossed with butter and white truffle oil

2. Blanched and sauteed with wild mushrooms (preferably cepes) and garlic

3. Provencal style (Julia Child recipe from MAFC1)

[GG Mora]

Filet beans, fresh from the garden. Blanch for a few minutes in salted water, just until they start to pop. Drain, refresh with cold water.

Shallot, lots of it, shredded in fine slivers. Sauté in unsalted butter (alot) until lightly browned.

Add beans and some S&P to pan and toss just to coat & reheat beans.

Best served with roasted chicken.

[ruthcooks]

I also love green beans, anyway they're cooked, but here's my favorite way to make them "fancy". Recipe will also be in RecipeGullet.

Parsley Butter Sauce for Green (or Wax) Beans

My children used to love wax beans, while I find them practically tasteless even when from my own garden. The original use for this recipe was to make wax beans edible(and very pretty), but now I use the sauce for green beans, which I love. Leave the beans whole, and the smaller, the better.

2 lbs. fresh green beans, ends trimmed

Salt

Parsley-Butter Sauce:

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

Salt and white pepper

1 C. chicken broth

2 egg yolks

1/2 C. heavy cream

1 C. chopped parsley

Cook beans to the desired state of doneness in a wide bottomed pan or skillet of salted water. When beans are done to your liking, drain them well, return to hot pan, cover and return to stove. For electric stove, the residual heat of the turned off burner will be enough; for gas, leave over lowest heat. (To make ahead, beans may be blanched, shocked in cold water, drained and refrigerated. When ready, heat well in a tiny bit of water, covered .)

Sauce: in a two-cup measuring cup, microwave 2 T. each butter and flour until bubbly. Add chicken broth and microwave until it boils, stirring once or twice to combine. Season well; broth must be somewhat over-seasoned. Stir egg yolks into heavy cream and stir into sauce.

Stir sauce into hot beans and cook with stirring for 1 or 2 minutes while sauce continues to cook, but not boil. Or simply stir in sauce, cover and remove from heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley just before serving.

Note: the wide bottomed pan is necessary to have enough hot surface to sufficiently cook the egg yolks in the sauce.

[Rien]

Braised, salted, and topped with browned butter, fresh chopped parsley and either a thinly sliced hard boiled egg or chopped (drained) anchovies and capers is pretty simple summer fare.

No one's mentioned salads. Braised but still slightly crisp you can mix them with chopped tomato, diced red onion, some fresh herbs (mint, parsley, or tarragon are all nice), and a dressing of your choice for a simple salad.

Steamed or braised, they'd probably go well with a lemon-egg sauce (one whole egg, juice of about one lemon ... more or less depending on your taste, and salt). When the beans are cooked but still slightly crisp, trasfer them to a skillet/saute pan, pour the sauce over them, and cook on low heat until it's warmed through and a little thickened. Finish with a twist or two of ground pepper and parsley if you'd like.

I don't think anyone's talked about stews ... I guess soupy and slightly soft (or mushy, depending on your perspective) vegetables aren't really a summery presentation ... more attuned to cool day comfort foods. Regardless, they are a lot of great vegetable stews with green beans ... particularly in the eastern Mediterranean and Southern Italy. They're easy to improvise ... create some sort of base (saute onions, garlics, celery, carrot, shallots, whatever in a casserole), braise the beans for a minute or two and refresh in cold water, then progress with adding whatever ingredients you want to the casserole ... tomatoes are often part of the equation. I've had interesting ones with fennel seed (an Italian version), with citrus and pomegranate syrup (a syrian take), with mixed vegetables (peppers/eggplant/okra).

They're a widely loved (France, Italy, all over the Mediterranean) and versatile vegetable, so there are hundreds of recipes out there.

rw

[LEdlund]

I made a green bean salad that was a hit with my friends last night. Blanch the beans then chill in an ice bath. Drain and toss with toasted walnuts and feta. Toss again with a simple vinaigrette (I used mustard made with walnut oil). It was so simple and delicious.

[Carrot Top]

In some olive oil, saute chopped onions, chopped celery, chopped green peppers till softened. Add fresh or canned diced tomatoes and a generous amount of chopped Italian parsley and a bay leaf, simmer five minutes or so. Other herbs such as thyme, basil, oregano, can be added to taste...

Meanwhile, trim and blanch green beans to the desired 'doneness'. Drain and cool under running cold water...

Add green beans to the tomato-vegatable mixture, re-heat and salt and pepper to taste.

This is almost a meal in itself...is good served with buttered orzo (mixed with parmesan and cream if you are so inspired) or a garlicky bruschetta....

[NulloModo]

I'm with fifi here, southern style epitomized the green bean experience.

I prefer to use a ham hock over bacon however, and to let them slow cook for at least four or so hours. the end result beans should be almost brown instead of green, most will have busted open, but the pork, onion, and stock flavors will have completely infused every little beany bit, so good.

[andiesenji]

This is my "go to" recipe when fresh green beans show up in the market.

Green Beans (Southern Style)

I can just about taste them. They sound sooooo good.

With cornbread.... a complete meal.

[andiesenji]

There is this sweet/sour "thing" I do with green beans. It involves using the pickling syrup I make in gallon batches for bread and butter or watermelon pickles. Or you can use one of the "hot" spinach dressings, such as Marie's, found in the produce section of most markets out here.

I snap off the stem ends of the beans, then break into 2 inch pieces.

In a large skillet I bring about two cups of salted water to a boil, throw in the beans, stir them around until the water is boiling again and keep cooking until the liquid has reduced about a third. (Time depends on how hot is your burner.)

Then I add about 1/2 cup of the pickling syrup (or the sweet/sour spinach dressing) about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and continue cooking until they look about right. Spear one with a fork and taste to see if the beans are tender and taste o.k. If they still squeak when you bite on one, keep cooking a few more minutes.

crumbled bacon sprinkled over the beans gives this a nice finish.