- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
This simple recipe for green beans and amandine is healthy and adds lovely, bright, green color to any plated or platter-served dinner.
As for the ingredients, look for green beans that are bright green, firm, and without brown spots or other blemishes. I always buy slivered almonds or any nuts in the bulk-goods sections of my area grocery stores. This way, I can smell and taste them for freshness. Few things are less pleasing than the odor or bitterness on the tongue of rancid nut oil.
Lastly, for the salt, in this recipe I use fleur de sel because it is applied after the cooking process. Gourmet chefs from all over the world covet this pricey salt, which is hand-harvested in the Brittany region of Northwestern France. As such, I use more ordinary sea salt for everyday cooking and reserve my stash of fleur de sel for sprinkling over beans like these, pommes frites, other fried vegetables, or a slice of fresh baguette smeared with lovely European butter!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of fresh green beans
- 1 medium onion, medium chop
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
- Fleur de Sel or other high-quality salt
Instructions
- Prepare the beans by snapping off or cutting off the ends and snapping or cutting the beans in half. Add the beans to rapidly-boiling, lightly salted water.
- Cook for 5 minutes. Drain the beans and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process and ensure that the beans stay crisp and brightly colored.
- In a high-walled sauté pan or skillet, cook the onions over medium-high heat in butter and half of the olive oil. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and transparent, about 10 minutes.
- Add the almonds and toast, stirring constantly until they turn a slightly pink color, about 3–4 minutes. Do not brown or burn the almonds.
- Drain the green beans and add them to the pan with the onions and almonds. Reduce heat to medium-low, toss, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice and remaining olive, toss well to coat the beans, and transfer to a serving bowl or individual dinner plates.
- This versatile green bean recipe can be served as a side dish to accompany many meat and fish dishes as well as holiday menus.
