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Sometimes the simplest is also the best. Simply cooked fresh farmer’s market green beans (French haricots verts) are served with garlic toasted briefly in olive oil. Voila!
This dish is courtesy of Angela Billows, who writes Provence Calling. Angela and her family were our gracious hosts for my 50th birthday lunch in Provence, and she made these fabulous, and utterly simple, green beans. Since green beans are in season right now, try this great preparation. I couldn’t believe how tasty it was, and super easy!
Angela’s Haricots Verts
16 oz. (450 g) fresh green beans
1 T. (15 ml) olive oil
3 cloves garlic
sea salt
cracked black pepper
Wash the beans, trim off the stem ends and any bad bits, and cut in half or thirds.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a good sprinkle of salt. Toss in the beans. Cook just a few minutes; they should still be bright green and crisp, but soft enough to chew.
While the beans are cooking, make an ice water bath: a deep bowl with cold water and some ice cubes. As soon as the beans are cooked properly, drain them and immediately put them into the ice water. This stops the cooking process so they stay crisp and hold their color.
Peel the garlic cloves and mince finely.
In a small sauté pan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic (you should hear a bit of sizzle but not too much) and stir for 30 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat.
Drain the beans well, then toss in a serving bowl with the garlic oil. Add sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! And just in time with the beans from the garden!!! AND….I recently got some Himalayan pink salt and organic peppercorns from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I’ll have to try them out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Deb, thanks for posting and for the link to Sustainable Sourcing. Looks like a great website!
These look great and thanks for the acknowledgment! I love fresh green beans, but love them even more like this! I actually just cooked them with some fresh cranberry beans I got from my market and then tossed them in walnut vinegar, olive oil, garlic and parsley for lunch yesterday, very good as well!
Well, I hope you don’t mind that I featured your recipe (again). Thanks for the lovely lunch. I’ve made these twice so far, and they were a big hit both times.
There is magic in simplicity. I have Haricots Verts in the veggie bin. Now I know exactly how I will prepare them! Thank you!!
You are so welcome. The trick is not to burn the garlic. It really is 30 seconds!
I really enjoy green beans baked like this, I always bake them this way except when I add some parmiggiano ! Simple recipes can be the best ones !
Stephanie and Caitlin, thanks for your comments. I was amazed at how delicious such a simple recipe could be, so I asked Angela to explain how she made them.
green beans, garlic, and olive oil sound delicious!
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