Lemony Lickin' Green Beans
We've been up in LaConner all weekend at Grammy and Poppy Dick's house , reading magazines on the terrace, walking on the beach, playing pickleball. Oh--and taking care of a sick Loretta. I really can't go into detail about what kind of sick she's been. This is a food blog, and I'd surely lose readership. She's on the mend now, poor little thing. We're home, I'm making cookies for the fire station (a marathon baking week for yours truly), and the kids are sun-kissed and sleeping.
Attentive to Loretta all weekend, I haven't focused much on food. Being a parent is what I call "the divided life." No matter where I am or what I'm doing, the other half of me is with my kids, even if I've been dying for a break from them. When I'm with them, I often wish I was doing whatever it was I was doing when I missed them so much. When my kids are sick, though, there's a break in this divided life and I become wholly theirs. I don't even care about cooking anymore, believe it or not.
Plus, on warm weekends like this one, I feel like eating as simply as possible. That's where these beans come in. We had them with barbecued chicken and some oven fries that I'll post about tomorrow. Emily was with us, and she was smitten with these beans. She made them (with instructions from me), so now she'll be able to eat them all summer.
There are so many foods best at room temperature--cheese, fruit, grilled vegetables, cake, pizza, salads. In our freakishness about food collecting bacteria by sitting out or in our haste to eat, things are often served too hot. Or worse--too cold. Like when you order a slice of coconut cake from a bakery case and it's served cold and hard. What a disappointment! When Yancey and I ate at Poppy recently, one of the things that made our meal so perfect was that much of our thali plate was served at room temperature. You can really taste everything that way.
So these beans are best at room temperature. If you make them ahead to bring to a BBQ or picnic, try to take them out of the fridge in time to warm up a little. They are so easy, but I've heard from many of you not to take anything for granted where recipes are concerned. And I really think these belong in your summer repertoire, especially if your kids get sick and you don't have much bandwidth to devote to cooking (God forbid).
P.S. The dressing for these was blessed by two things. The JUICIEST lemons in the world from my neighborhood Asian market (6 for $1) and some delicious unfiltered olive oil that was in Phyllis' cupboard. I usually just buy Costco extra virgin olive oil, which is fine, but more bitter. I was reminded of now nice it is to have a little bit of special olive oil around when it's the star ingredient. My birthday is next month.
P.S.S. For those of you experimenting with preserved lemons, this would be a perfect use for them. Just don't put any (or a very tiny bit) of salt in if you use them.
P.S.S.S. Sorry. One more thing. There's some new stories on the Your Stories page if you haven't checked it out recently. I love your stories and photos! Keep sending them.
Lemony Lickin' Green Beans
1.5 lbs. green beans, trimmed and washed
1 minced garlic clove
juice and zest of one very juicy lemon
1/4 c. best-you-can-afford olive oil
salt
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and blanch for 3 minutes, until bright green and crisp-tender. Run under cold water, drain, and set aside.
Make dressing--combine garlic, lemon zest and juice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in olive oil to emulsify, tasting and adjusting as you go.
Toss green beans with dressing. I dare you not to lick your fingers.
May 24, 2009
Reader Comments (14)
good call, sarah! it's probably the only time i see you slow down. after observing you this weekend, i think you needed a rest as well. glad everyone is on the mend, especially since yancey will be on duty for the next 2 days. xxoxoxox
This looks like something even I could try to make sometime, for something special!
Some questions... now you will know how NOT fancy a cook I really am. If I were to cook, that is.
What other vegetables might you toss with this dresssing? Just thinking about what might be seasonal later. When it comes to Olive Oil, should I assume you mean EVO? By mince you mean "chop really tiny" vs press, right? What's the best way to add zest? I know what it is, but I've never really done it! And about how much zest are we really talking here? How far in advance do you think I could make this and keep in fridge till ready to get to room temp?
Sorry about Loretta! Was up with I-Bear last night at mindnight when he woke up from congestion, slept in his bed with him to keep him propped up, rocking him again around 4 till he was asleep, back in bed, used my James-Bond-sneaky-mommy moves to sneak out at 5:30. Now, coffee and facebook. Oh, that reminds me, I should pick off some chocolate mint and add it to my coffee this morning.
I've spent the past 20 minutes browsing your site. I love it! Everything looks soo good. I will be adding you to my reader. Keep it coming! Cheers!
Nazz - Clearly the only solution is for me to come over and help make this for you.
Nazz--Yes, I think pds should come over :) You can use this dressing on virtually anything--broccoli, boiled potatoes, asparagus, green salad. When I say "zest," here, I mean zest from a whole lemon. I have a Microplane grater, which is made for this job. If you don't have one of those or a lemon zester, it's a little bit tough, but possible. Carefully cut the peel off a few slices lemon, leaving the pith (white part) attached to the fruit. You should have just some crescent-shaped bits of peel left. With a paring knife, cut any bits of pith off this (the pith is the bitter part), then slice the remaining lemon rind is finely as you can. Especially if you're dumping it in a dressing, this will do just fine.
And a better alternative than making these really far in advance would be to boil the beans and make the dressing, and just don't mix them until a bit before. You can just leave the dressing out on the counter.
I've also used the smallest setting on a grater for zest. It's cumbersome and you have to dig your hands under the grater to get out the goodness, but it works. You also have to be very careful about not getting the white part that Sarah mentions. It's easy to do with a grater.
As for the garlic, mince does mean chopping it up into tiny little pieces. And if it's from your knife or a press, who will know the difference? Absolutely nobody.
Olive oil - I'm assuming Sarah means really good extra virgin olive oil, but I'll let her confirm.
mmm mm! I bought green beans and a lemon at the market this morning for just this reason :) Looking forward to licking this dressing off of my fingers again. I don't know you Nazz, but I love reading your posts. I had pita chips and bean dip for dinner last night, followed by cereal.
Hope you had a good solo day with the kids Sarah.
Love, Em
I just made these with my leftover green beans from the chewy, crunchy thai salad. They are amazing! I love how much lemon flavor they have. I probably ate 3/4 lb of green beans and am now boiling more water to put the dressing on broccoli. This is a great way to eat vegetables! And now I won't feel so bad about eating ice cream later tonight.
Yahtzee! This is the one I'm going with for tomorrow night (NH). I've been thinking of these green beans ever since Em made them before Mary Oliver -- sooo delicious. And then she and I had some green beans last night and I was reminded how delicious green beans are. Plus green beans + prime rib = awesome. AND I've been dying to incorporate preserved lemons.
Thanks, SMK for your blog, tips, tricks and wit. LOVE yer show.
I emailed you, but didn't get a response. So I did a search and found green beans! I'll be making this for tomorrow's side for dinner. Would you rec. making the day of or can I make it the day before?
Midori, I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you. I went for a walk this morning and thought, "#$%! I didn't get back to Midori!" Sorry. These green beans are best made right before. You can made the vinaigrette in advance, though. If you're really looking to save minutes, you can blanch them beforehand and zap them for a teensy bit the next day. I don't think that saves much time, though. Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh my goodness, no problem! I was trying to look at other sites to see if there were any suggestions. This sounds great and will blanch them beforehand. Thanks Sarah and Happy Thanksgiving!
It was a HIT! Thank you!
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