Speedy Gonzalez Brings You Yummy Green Beans

I was going to write a real post about Christmas creep, and how decorations are everywhere ALREADY, and how I was thinking, "Maybe I will just bow out of Christmas -- except WAIT, this is OUR feast that consumer culture has co-opted. Maybe I will respond to every 'Happy Holidays' greeting with 'Blessed Advent!' or 'Joyous Feast of the Nativity!' Would that make me sound like a person who might lasso you with a brown scapular and forcibly enroll you in the confraternity thereof? Maybe it would.

But I was busy changing my user short name on the computer we bought secondhand in the summer. The good thing about a secondhand MacBook is the price. The bad thing is that I've been staring at the original purchaser's name because I was put off by the "advanced" tag on the directions to change it. It's not hard, turns out. Except-- that's what I was messing with when I lost my data temporarily, and it disappeared again tonight. This time I did not panic and I did not smear poop on my shirt (oh, wait, that was the baby). I just logged in as root and copied my dot files with aplomb, knowing that even if it didn't work (and it did!), I had just backed up my dissertation data.

Well. This was supposed to be a quick post about green beans but I am three paragraphs in and there are no beans in sight.

Look! Beans ahoy!

This is my favorite thing to do with green beans. It comes from The Passionate Vegetarian, whose author also recommends this approach for summer squash and okra. Here's what you do: top and tail and blanch your beans. Chop some garlic and a ripe tomato. (Substitute a couple of canned tomatoes if you'd like, since ripe tomatoes are scarce in November.) Add some olive oil to a skillet and throw in the beans. Sprinkle the garlic and tomato on top. Cook on low for five minutes; cover and cook for 30 minutes more. Peek occasionally to make sure the garlic isn't burning. At the end, take off the top. If you have visible liquid, turn up the heat for a few minutes to cook it off. She says you want the beans coated in a sort of tomato-ey marmalade. Sprinkle with salt. She says to add dill but I do not.

This does not make a beautiful side dish because the beans get kind of shriveled. But OH if you do not like the looks of it, pass your beans to me and I will eat them all. We never have leftovers because I eat them out of the serving dish with my fingers and then lick my fingers.

Comments

[bearing]

Jamie, I do something with a similar flavor profile and shrively ending, but it's in the crockpot.

1 1/2 pounds of green beans, one can (small or big, your choice) diced tomatoes with about half the liquid from the can, one chopped onion, a glug or two of olive oil, lots of salt and pepper, cook on low all day. Just before serving stir in the juice of a lemon and a little bit more olive oil.

It's kind of a stew, so I like to serve it with rice or something else that sops up the liquid. Very nice with a couple of steaks or chops, or as part of a vegetarian feast. And an excellent potluck offering.

[Tall Kate]

LOVE this bean recipe! It also works with a leek in the mix. I am fond of this recipe on the Thanksgiving table with green beans from the freezer, from last summer's farm share. Delicious.