Spicy Slivered Green Beans with Lime and Cilantro
Serves 21 large handful of young green beans (about 1/3lb), ends trimmed
Olive Oil
3/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 T. minced cilantro
juice from 1/2 a limeStack the green beans so they are all facing the same direction. Slice the green beans into roughly 1/2 inch slices.
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add green beans and saute for about 1 minute. Mix in red pepper flakes. Cover skillet with a tight fitting lid or plate, and cook for an additional 1 minute or so, until beans are bright green. Remove lid and mix in cilantro and lime juice. At this point, the beans will be warm but still crisp. If you like your beans a little softer, cook an additional 1-3 minutes; otherwise, serve right away. Enjoy!
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This recipe celebrates the art of simple cooking — five ingredients plus a little chopping is all it takes to turn what some might consider a ho-hum vegetable into something unique and delicious.
Green beans a ho-hum vegetable? I can sense your indignation already…. Let me explain: green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, lettuce — these are the vegetables I remember growing up with… Beets, chard, sorrel, fava beans, squash, nettles, fennel, bok choy, peppers, artichokes, dandelion, avocados — these I didn’t discover until much later in life, basically until I got out on my own and had to do my own grocery shopping. The vegetables that fall into the first category — those that I grew up with — don’t make appearances on my table as often as one might expect; I have come to appreciate the fact that the vegetable kingdom is huge and has so much to offer that I’ve never tasted, and I gravitate towards tastes that are somewhat new to me.
Usually when green beans were served in my home growing up, they were accompanied by crumbled bacon, roquefort, and chopped toasted almonds (SUPER DELICIOUS!), but tonight I wanted something lighter with a bit of a kick. Alongside the green beans I served roasted poblano peppers stuffed with a mixture of slow braised pork, rice, and diced peaches and apricots (fruit and pork is always a lovely combination). Even though it’s only late May, all of the produce for tonight’s dinner — green beans, cilantro, limes, poblano peppers, peaches, and apricots — was purchased at my local farmer’s market. I oddly feel out-of-season eating spicy peppers these days, but perhaps the long Memorial Day weekend will allow me to welcome summer, along with its signature vegetable offerings.
Anyhow, I do hope you give this a try– it literally come together in less than 10 minutes, and is a unique and usual way to serve green beans, both because of the cut and flavor of the beans. In the future I might make a version using adobo sauce and minced garlic, or alternatively with preserved lemon and dill (<– this one’s totally different, I know)… If you have other suggestions for green beans, I’d love to hear them (especially since Steven declared green beans ‘his favorite vegetables’ tonight while we were eating dinner, and because my repertoire could use some expansion at this point…) I also think this would be nice with okra (another favorite vegetable around here), once it’s in season.
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