Lean Beans
Green beans are one of my favorite green vegetables, right up there with kale and romaine lettuce.
I was asked to make the green beans for Thanksgiving this year and happily obliged. I find vegetables a particularly hard aspect of the holiday dinner. How do you make season them so that they can stand up to the richness of the rest of the food yet highlight their natural flavor and freshness?
I choose miso for it’s umami, richness, saltiness, and probiotic content (our digestion needs all the help it can get this time of year!), preserved lemon for the fresh flavor that citrus provides, honey to balance the saltiness of the first two ingredients, ginger for a little kick (and again, good for the digestion), and toasted sesame oil as a contrast to all the butter and olive oil we used for the other dishes.
| Miso-Lemon Green Beans |
- 2 big handfuls of trimmed green beans
- 2 tablespoons chopped preserved lemon OR lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons light miso
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- small knob of ginger
- chili flakes and toasted sesame seeds to top
- Lightly steam those beans. Keep an eye on them, as green beans can quickly go to mush.
- Blend everything except the sesame seeds and chili flakes until a smooth paste forms. Toss with green beans, top with seeds and flakes and serve warm or cold!
Preserved lemons are one of my favorite condiments.
Salty, sour, and bitter (sounds like the makings of a country song!), these guys add crazy flavor to anything and everything. If you don’t have any or *gasp* aren’t a fan, you can always use lemon zest in its place. Here are my directions for making your own preserved lemons.
This recipe is for just a few servings but if there are leftovers they are really good cold for days to come.
