green beans

Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes

/ christineouteraisle / Leave a comment

Salt and pepper

1 lb green beans (about 4 cups)

1 TBS EVOO

1 shallot or red onion diced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 – 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 TBS dry white wine

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved, about 1 cup

1 tBS chopped fresh tarragon or basil

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1/2 tsp salt. Trim the stems from the beans, leaving the tail ends on. Cut them in half on a diagonal or leave whole if small. Drop the beans into the water and cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes, depending on their size. Rinse under cold water and set aside to drain.

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saute pan; add the shallots, garlic, 1 tsp of the lemon juice, and the white wine; cook over medium heat for 1 minute, until the pan is nearly dry. Add the beans, 1/4 tsp salt, and a few pinches of pepper; saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and herbs; saute for 1 to 2 minutes, just long enough so that the tomatoes heat through  without losing their shape. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Serve immediately.

Green Beans and Cherry Tomato Grattinate

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Ingredients

1½ pounds fresh green beans
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ pound cherry tomatoes, preferably small grape tomatoes
½ pound fresh mozzarella
6 basil leavesgreen bean corn tomato salad
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
½ cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter

Directions

Arrange a rack in the top half of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Fill a large pot with water (at least 5 quarts) and bring it to the boil.

Trim both ends of the beans and remove strings (if they’re an old fashioned variety and have strings). Dump them all into the boiling water, cover the pot until the water boils again, then cook uncovered, for 10 minutes or so, until they are just cooked through-tender but still firm enough to snap.

Drain the beans briefly in a colander then put them in a big kitchen bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of salt on the hot beans and toss them so they’re all seasoned. Let the salt melt and the beans cool for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse and dry the tomatoes; if they’re larger than an inch, slice them in halves, otherwise leave them whole. Cut the mozzarella into 1/2-inch cubes. Slice the basil leaves into thin shreds or chiffonade.

Toss the grated cheese and bread crumbs together in a small bowl. Lightly grease the insides of the baking dish with a teaspoon or more of the butter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese and bread crumb mix all over the bottom of the dish.

When the beans are no longer steaming, drop the tomatoes, cubes of mozzarella and basil shreds on top. Drizzle the olive oil over all, sprinkle on the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and toss together a few times. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the cheesy bread crumbs on top and toss well, so everything is coated.

Turn the vegetables, scraping up all the crumbs, into the baking dish and spread them in an even layer. Sprinkle over the remaining 1/4 cup of crumbs; cut the rest of the butter in small pieces, and scatter them all over the top. Place the dish in the oven.

Bake the grattinate for 10 minutes, then rotate it back to front and bake another 10 minutes. Check to see that it is browning and bake a few minutes more, until the grattinate is dark golden and crusted. (If the crumbs still look pale after 20 minutes in your oven, raise the temperature, to 400 or 425 degrees and bake until done.)

Serve the hot grattinate in the baking dish.

Summer Green Bean Salad

/ outeraislefoods / 1 Comment

This is a great meal to prepare ahead of time and just have waiting for you on a hot day in the fridge. Martha Stewart has actually got a pretty cool selection of recipes, which is where I found the base for what I’m sharing with you below.  I’m finding the best as they come into season and will post them here, of course.

My goal is that we can use the tags that I put on each recipe for you to find something to do with each bit of produce that you pick up.  Does that sound like a good plan? To see the categories and tags that we have so far, click the three horizontal lines on the top left corner there.

This recipe is catered towards the heirlooms that we’ve got coming into the store lately. I love the light crunch from the beans, which are only partially cooked and cooled, the juicy salty and sweet tomato, and the sweetness of the corn.  I’d like to experiment with not cooking the corn on this one.  Comment below on your thoughts!

Remember the neat trick we showed a couple of weeks ago on trimming your green beans in seconds?  Check it out here beneath our last green bean recipe.

  • Coarse salt
  • 3 ears corn, husks and silk removed
  • 1 1/2 pounds green beans, stem ends snapped off
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and gently smashed
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
  • 1/2 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 medium Heirloom tomato, sliced 1/2-inch thick
  • 2 cups of small, mixed red heirloom tomatoes, halved

 

  1. They say to cook the corn until tender in a large pot of salted water (5 to 7 minutes). Remove corn with tongs and set aside on a cutting board to cool. Using a strainer, remove any corn silk remaining in the pot. I like the taste of raw corn though, and I’d recommend trying it with raw kernels or if you’re near a grill, grilled corn. Yum!

  2. Add the trimmed green beans and return to a boil, and cook until very tender, about 8 minutes (timing may vary depending on the size of the beans). Meanwhile, cut the corn kernels off the cobs and put kernels in a large bowl. Drain the beans in a colander, shake to remove excess water, and put in bowl with corn. Add garlic and 3 tablespoons of oil. Toss well and let stand at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend; refrigerate if longer than 30 minutes. I think that this is a great recipe to try making ahead and storing in the fridge for the following day. It holds up well and lets the flavors marinate just a little bit more.

  3. If necessary, bring beans and corn to room temperature by removing them from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. Just before serving, remove the garlic and add the remaining tablespoon of oil along with vinegar, onion, and sliced tomatoes. Add salt to taste and serve at room temperature.

 

If you’re trying the recipe, make sure to leave us a comment below! We’d love to know how it went!

Green Beans With Bacon Vinaigrette

/ outeraislefoods / 1 Comment

We have beautiful French fillet beans coming from the farm! The key to cooking fresh green beans just right is to parboil them beforehand. This will soften them and prepare them for the saute. Bacon and green beans are a match made in heaven in this dish from Real Simple, but the mustard and vinegar give it complexity and kick! Do you think trimming green beans is a time waster? Check below the recipe on how to trim 2 pounds of green beans in a snap!

 

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds green beans, trimmed
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 2 shallots, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and black pepper

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the green beans and cook until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool; transfer to a serving bowl.
  2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Let cool, then break into pieces.
  3. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the skillet and return to medium heat. I like to pour all of my bacon drippings into a jar to save for adding a hint of bacon flavor to other dishes in the future. Don’t throw it out! Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar, mustard, oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add to the green beans, along with the bacon, and toss to combine.

 

How to trim off the ends of green beans in (even faster than a) snap:

Trimming green beansYou only need to cut off the stem end, where the bean attached to the vine. The other end if fine to eat.  Line up the stems. Sort the beans so that the stems all face one direction. Scoot a handful against your palm so that they’re even and then chop them all off in one go!

With this method you’ll be getting through a whole bowl in just a few minutes!