blistered green beans with tomato-almond pesto.

I made this dish on a whim earlier this week  and I am very glad I did.   

We buy most of our produce on at the Saturday farmer’s market and during the week before leaving for work, I perform a mental checklist of what’s in the fridge and what needs to be used-up and from there I build dinner.   If I’m feeling un-inspired or particularly bored with whatever I think I should be making I perform a Google search consisting of “NYTIMES or Bon Appetit + INSERT VEGETABLE HERE” and see what pop’s up.  Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t but whatever the outcome it usually helps me to come-up with some kind of game plan.    

This time it worked!

This is my new favorite way to eat green beans.   Cooked in a cast iron skillet until blistered in spots and tossed in a smoked paprika and tomato laced “pesto” that tastes like a combination of Romanesco and gazpacho.   It’s a bright, punchy, and the perfect side for grilled meat or fish.  

Blistered Green Beans With Tomato-Almond Pesto

Recipe from Bon Appetit

2 pints cherry tomatoes

¼ cup unsalted, roasted almonds

1 garlic clove, grated

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 pounds haricots verts or green beans, trimmed

Preheat oven to 450°. Roast tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, turning once, until blistered and lightly charred, 15–20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Finely chop almonds in a food processor. Add garlic, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, cayenne, and half of tomatoes; pulse to a coarse pesto consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1½ tsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add half of beans; cook, undisturbed, until beginning to blister, about 2 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until tender, 7–9 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Spread beans out on a platter; let cool. Repeat with remaining vegetable oil and beans.

Toss beans with pesto; season with salt and pepper if needed. Add remaining tomatoes and transfer to a platter.

Do Ahead: Dish can be made 3 hours ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature. Toss and adjust seasoning just before serving.

haricots verts with minty tahini dressing.

This is the best thing I've eaten in a very long time.  

I find this just as hard to believe as you do considering it's summer and most of what I've eaten over the last few weeks involves fruit encased in a flaky buttery crust (i.e. cherry pie and apricot tart and cherry brown butter bars). I never expected string beans (or if feel like being fancy haricots verts) to top my July 2014 Best Eats list (am I the only one who makes monthly best of lists?) but it is (!) and I am here to suggest you put down the butter and get out the tahini.  

Bon Appetit describes this dressing as ranch dressing that spent a couple of weeks traipsing through the Middle East.  I describe it as the best thing to be poured over summer vegetables since miso-peanut dressing.  I don't know how the magic happens, truthfully I don't want to know, but somehow the combination of tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice joins together to make a dressing that is creamier then any other dressing I have ever encountered.  It's thick and rich and when poured over grean beans and bulger it turns the simplest of ingredients into a salad that you just can't stop eating.  So go and eat this now and then I suggest you follow it up with some peach pie because what's better then a meal of summer's greatest hits?  

Haricots Verts with Minty Tahini Dressing

Recipe adapted (barely) from Bon Appetit 

Serves 4 generously or 6 as a side 

¼ cup cracked or uncracked freekeh or bulger, rinsed

Kosher salt

1 pound haricots verts, trimmed

1 small garlic clove, finely grated

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons tahini

½ teaspoon dried mint

½ teaspoon pure maple syrup

¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems

¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves with tender stems

¼ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes

Cook freekeh or bulger in a large saucepan of salted simmering water according to package directions.

Meanwhile, cook haricots verts in a small pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl of ice water; let cool. Drain, and then pat dry.

Whisk garlic, lemon juice, oil, tahini, mint, maple syrup, and 1 tsp. water in a large bowl; season with salt. Add freekeh or bulger  and haricots verts and toss gently to coat; season with salt.

Serve freekeh/bulger and haricots verts topped with walnuts, cilantro, dill, parsley, and Aleppo pepper.

Do Ahead: Freekeh/bulger and haricots verts can be cooked 2 days ahead. Cover and chill separately.

green bean, potato, and tuna salad.

I am one of those people who bring their lunch to work.  I realize that this is the norm in some industries, but in the world of finance doing so makes you stick out like a sore thumb.  I used to try and bring inconspicuous items like turkey sandwiches and chicken noodle soup, but sandwiches generally feel less then chic and elegant.  When you’re forced to eat all your meals at your desk, you want to try and bring a little French je ne sais quai to your meal. 

To make my lunch feel a little more special and a little less like I’m eating in a white walled cubicle (when I’d rather be eating on a bench in the sun), I’ve taken to making salads.  We are not talking about bagged lettuce mix salads (the horror!) but rather positively French salads filled with farmer’s market vegetables and some kind of protein. 

My current version features skinny haricots verts (a green bean with a fancy name) with baby red potatoes, chopped egg, and olive oil packed tuna.  I use the olive oil the tuna comes in to make a tart and spicy vinaigrette that I drizzle over the whole thing while the salad is still warm.  The warm vegetables soak up the vinaigrette which makes each bite taste creamy and rich.  The dish is at its best the next day once the flavors have melded, making this the perfect easy lunch that tastes like so much more.  If only I had macarons for dessert (and white wine to drink!)

Green Bean, Potato, and Tuna Salad

Serves 4

This is my version of a nicoise salad (so French!).  In addition to being a super fabulous lunch, it also makes the perfect meal for an impromptu alfresco dinner especially if you serve it with a wedge of brie and crusty bread.  Finish the meal with a bar of the best dark chocolate you can buy.  Simple and wonderful.

For the salad

1 ¼ pound green beans washed and ends removed, cut in half on a diagonal

1 pound red baby potatoes washed and quartered (or more if bigger)

3 egss

1 can good olive oil packed tuna (this is the time to splurge)

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing

Olive oil from can of tuna (about 3 tablespoons, add fresh if not enough)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (plus more to taste if you like lots of mustard)

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring water to boil, salt your water, and add green beans.  Cook 3-4 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your beans.  Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and place in large bowl.  Rinse beans with cold water to stop cooking. 

Add potatoes to pot, cook until fork tender, about 6-8 minutes depending on the potatoes size.  Remove from pot with a slotted spoon. Add eggs to pot and cook 10 minutes. 

While eggs are cooking, make dressing.  Drain tuna olive oil into a small bowl.  Add tuna to the green beans and potatoes.  Combine mustard, white wine vinegar, and honey with the oil.  Stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Remove eggs from pot, and dunk in cold water.  Peel the eggs, halve them, and dice each half.  Add eggs to the beans, potatoes, and tuna.  Season beans and potato mixture with salt and (lots of!) pepper to taste.  Mix in dressing, and toss to coat.  Taste, and adjust seasonings as necessary.