When my husband Ed asks for seconds on a vegetable side dish I know I’ve got a good recipe.
The other evening I cooked this string bean and tomato dish. We are so used to eating crispy, tender-but-still-firm vegetables that this dish, with its softer side, was a surprise wonder. Not that the vegetables are soft and mushy like people used to make them (I have a cookbook from the 1930s that instructed the reader to cook string beans for 45 minutes!). But they are not crunchy either.
I served this with chicken, but it could be a good part of a vegetarian meal or a meatless Monday meal. It would go well with mashed potatoes and roasted cauliflower or cooked egg noodles, polenta, mushroom ragout and such. It would also be a good accompaniment to scrambled eggs.
String Beans with Tomatoes
1 pound green string beans
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, or 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Rinse the string beans, cut the ends off and cut the beans into 1-1/2 to 2-inch pieces. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and green beans and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Cover the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the beans are almost tender. Add the tomatoes, parsley, salt and sugar and stir the ingredients to mix them evenly. Sprinkle with the cayenne pepper. Cover and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle with the lemon juice. Makes 4 servings