Inexperienced Beans Almondine – A Couple Cooks

This inexperienced beans almondine is vivid, buttery, and completely crisp-tender with toasted almonds and lemon. A simple, elegant facet for holidays or weeknights!

Right here’s a easy solution to gown up recent inexperienced beans as a connoisseur facet: Inexperienced Beans Almondine! If you happen to’re like me, you may first consider a considerably soggy, bland model of this dish served at marriage ceremony buffets. However make it at house, and this dish is sensible!

The beans are vivid inexperienced and completely tender, sautéed in butter with garlic and toasted almonds and completed with just a little lemon zest. After one chew, we had been singing its praises: then completed off your entire platter. It shortly jumped to the highest of my favourite inexperienced bean dishes (like this salad and this straightforward facet).

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Quick and straightforward prep: This recipe takes about quarter-hour, with a cook dinner time of simply 5 minutes!
Extraordinarily tasty: The beans have a vivid inexperienced shade and are crisp tender, topped with crunchy toasted almonds and zingy lemon zest.
Fancy vibe: It’s nice for vacation meals and dinner events, but additionally straightforward sufficient to make on any weekday.

Components You’ll Want

Amandine is a French time period for a dish that’s ready with toasted almonds, known as “almondine” in English. Inexperienced beans almondine options inexperienced beans sautéed in butter and served with toasted, sliced almonds. The opposite substances rely on the chef, however typically embrace garlic and lemon.

Whereas inexperienced beans are the preferred with the almondine preparation, it really works with different greens like asparagus or broccoli. Right here’s what you’ll want for this recipe:

Recent inexperienced beans (haricots verts most well-liked): French inexperienced beans are thinner and cook dinner sooner than customary varieties. Common inexperienced beans or string beans work too: Simply alter the blanching time. See my information to Haricot Verts for extra (or hold studying).
Salted butter: That is the star ingredient within the sauce. For vegan or dairy-free, swap in olive oil or plant-based butter.
Sliced almonds: I like sliced over slivered almonds as a result of they toast extra evenly and have a lighter crunch.
Shallots: I add a finely minced shallot for a delicate sweetness that garlic alone doesn’t fairly provide you with.
Garlic: That is added on the very finish so it stays aromatic with out burning.
Lemon zest and recent lemon juice: Each go in on the finish so as to add brightness.

About Haricot Verts (French Inexperienced Beans)

Inexperienced beans almondine is greatest with French inexperienced beans, aka haricot verts (“inexperienced beans” in French). Such a bean is thinner and shorter than customary inexperienced beans. The number of beans you’ll most definitely discover within the grocery are known as Blue Lake beans.

French inexperienced beans cook dinner sooner than customary inexperienced beans and are extra tender in texture. Don’t confuse these with French minimize inexperienced beans or Frenched inexperienced beans, that are beans which are thinly sliced.

I all the time go for French inexperienced beans: they’re simply that good! You may also use customary inexperienced beans on this recipe: you might discover you want to blanch them for 1 minute greater than French inexperienced beans.

How you can Make Inexperienced Beans Almondine

There are two fundamental steps to inexperienced beans almondine. You may suppose you may throw them proper right into a skillet and get to cooking, however you’ll have to blanch the beans first. Right here’s what to know (or soar to the recipe to get began):

Blanch the Beans

Blanch the beans by cooking in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, then plunging in ice water. Blanching is a cooking technique that includes boiling greens till they’re crisp tender, then plunging them into ice water to cease the cooking course of.
This makes the beans completely tender earlier than sautéing them with the butter and almonds. In the event that they’re cooked within the skillet solely, the beans can come out moderately crunchy.

Toast Almonds & End the Dish

Toast the almonds in butter for 30 seconds, then add the beans and cook dinner 2 to three minutes.
Add minced garlic and cook dinner 1 minute extra. Including the garlic on the finish ensures that it received’t get too browned. End with the lemon zest and serve instantly.

Ideas for Finest Outcomes

Don’t skip the ice bathtub. That is the key to vivid inexperienced, completely cooked beans. If you happen to don’t, you’ll have olive-green, mushy beans.
Dry your beans completely. Moist beans in a scorching skillet filled with butter will sputter and steam as an alternative of sauté. Pat them dry on a towel first.
Watch the almonds intently. Sliced almonds can go from golden to burned in seconds. In case your butter is browning too quick, decrease the warmth barely.
Use a big skillet. Crowding the pan causes steaming as an alternative of sautéing.

Variations and Substitutions

When you’ve tried the bottom recipe, you possibly can think about a few of these substitutions:

Olive oil as an alternative of butter: For a dairy-free or vegan model, use olive oil. It received’t have fairly the identical nutty richness, however it’ll nonetheless style good.
Shallots as an alternative of garlic (or each): Shallots add a mellow sweetness that many restaurant variations of this recipe use.
Nut-free possibility: Substitute toasted sunflower seeds or pepitas for the almonds.
Purple pepper flakes: A pinch added with the garlic provides a delicate warmth.
Different concepts: Attempt including a pinch of smoked paprika, or a sprinkle of Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese as a garnish.

Serving Concepts

Inexperienced beans almondine is endlessly versatile. It’s excellent in summer season when yow will discover superbly recent inexperienced beans, nevertheless it works for anytime. Listed here are some nice methods to pair this dish:

Make-Forward, Storage, & Reheating

Retailer leftover inexperienced beans almondine in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.

For make forward, you possibly can blanch the inexperienced beans as much as 3 days prematurely and retailer them within the fridge. Whenever you’re able to serve, the cooking takes 5 minutes.

Heat leftovers in a skillet over medium warmth with a drizzle of olive oil. The almonds will soften throughout in storage: in order for you the crunch again, toast sliced almonds individually and sprinkle them on high earlier than serving.

Dietary Notes

This inexperienced beans almondine recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based and dairy-free, use olive oil or plant-based butter.