Green Beans Almondine
Tender French baby green beans (Haricot Vert), come packaged with the ends snipped off, ready to cook. You can use regular green beans and cut the tops of yourself. Top with crunchy toasted almonds. Great for every day, a holiday or special dinner.
Servings: 4 to 6
Calories: 241kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Blanching water
- 5 tablespoons coarse kosher salt Use approx. 1 tablespoon per quart of water
Green Beans
- 12 ounces haricot verts of baby green beans
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium shallot halved lengthwise, sliced thin crosswise
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped or zested
Toasted Almonds
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter ghee or plant butter
- 1 cup sliced raw almonds 4 ounces
- 2 pinches sea salt
Instructions
Getting started
- Fill a large pot (5-7 quarts) with water adding kosher salt at approximately 1 tablespoon per quart of water. Bring the water to a full boil. While you're waiting on the water to boil, set up the ice bath and toast the almonds.
Toasted almonds
- Add butter to a medium skillet or fry pan. Melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Don’t walk away from the stove as nuts burn quickly. When done, sprinkle with a little extra salt and set the almonds aside on a baking sheet to cool. Use now for serving or keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Finish the green beans
- When the water is boiling and the ice batch is ready, drop the beans into the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. When done, remove the beans from the pot with tongs and plunge them into the ice water. When cold (they chill fast), drain the beans in a colander and dry on a clean kitchen towel.
Serving
- When ready to serve, heat the olive oil in a large fry pan and saute the shallot until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 minute more. Add the green beans and heat through, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Serve scattered or tossed with the toasted almonds.
Notes
If pre-cooking green beans for serving a few days later, place cooked, drained green beans into an airtight container for up to 4 days. Do almonds ahead too. Then it's fast to get them on the table for serving.
The almonds keep for about a month refrigerated. Use them on salads and other vegetables or to top yogurt or steel cut oats.
Shortcut: you can skip the shallots and garlic and toss the green beans with good olive oil (maybe a flavored olive oil like lemon or basil) and add the toasted almonds to serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 1169mg | Potassium: 403mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 816IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 2mg