This time of year is peak season for a lot of Tennessee’s best produce. Along with tons of squash, eggplant and tomatoes, you’ll find lots of beans and peas. Green beans, October beans, crowder peas, black-eyed peas and so on. One of my favorite beans is yellow wax beans.
When buying yellow wax beans at the market, look for young and tender beans. That means they should be light yellow with a bit of green at the tips (no spots) and smooth. Bumpy beans are a sign that they’re a little more mature (the bean inside has grown more). Store in a paper bag or wrapped loosely with a paper towel in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them.
These beans are really versatile and can be used in a variety of ways, but I like to eat them in this very simple recipe:
Yellow Wax Beans With Toasted Almonds and Lemon
serves 4
½ pound fresh yellow wax beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup blanched slivered almonds (I get mine at Trader Joe’s)
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice or 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Salt
Pepper
Ice
Rinse wax beans and trim both ends. Fill a pot with 2-3 quarts of water and a ½ tablespoon or so of salt and bring to a boil. Add wax beans and cook for about 3 minutes until tender. Drain and immediately set in a bowl of ice water to cool. Once cool, drain and set on a towel and pat dry.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium and add almonds. Sauté until lightly browned. Add garlic and beans and cook, stirring frequently until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes). Add lemon juice or zest and stir just before removing beans to a serving dish. Add salt and pepper to taste and toss lightly.
Notes: If you are fresh garlic person, more power to you. Despite all that I know, I am still using jarred minced garlic. I think even garlic powder would work in this (my apologies). I also recognize that we aren’t all keeping a lemon in the fridge, so bottled lemon juice will work just fine. But lemon zest is better if you really like lemon flavor. If you only have whole almonds, just put them in a plastic bag and pound them a few times to break them up. They don’t have to be pretty.
Also, if you’re looking for a recipe that’s a little fancier (and uses more beans), check out this recipe for Mixed Beans with Peanuts, Ginger and Lime from Yotam Ottolenghi via Bon Appétit (and invite me over for dinner).
