A mix of freshly picked green and yellow beans makes for a fabulously colorful simple dish
Ingredients
Green and Yellow beans
Extra Virgin olive oil
Garlic - thinly sliced
Salt & Pepper
Beans are dead simple to make but delicate so timing is important. Wash the beans and remove both ends with a small paring knife (or if they are very young you can just snap them off), I usually line up several of the tops and slice the tops off and then align the bottoms and slice them off too.
Picking beans (if you grow them, like I do) at the right time is key to really tender beans. You should also keep this in mind while buying. If you see seeds fully bulging out, you are probably late and you will have stringy, chewy beans. Pick them as young as possible but with the seeds just about starting to show.
Steam the beans using a steaming basket attachment to a saucepan - about 5 minutes (no more or else they will get soggy). Let them cool down a bit, if you want them to look bright in color and a little crunchy, blanche them in a pan of cold iced water so they stop cooking immediately.
Dry them thoroughly on paper towels.
Sautéing
In a sauté pan, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil, once it is hot, drop in the thinly sliced garlic and
fry it until light brown. Quickly drop in the beans (make sure they are fully patted dry before you drop them into the oil or else you will have the hot oil spatter everywhere). Saute the beans, quickly, sprinkle the pepper and salt and remove and immediately serve.
Beans don't do well sitting around or being in a warmer so its best to serve immediately. If you have other things to do, leave the saute to just before you serve the meal.
Perfectly picked and cooked green beans (this one didn't have Garlic but was freshly picked so I didn't think it needed anything -- just olive oil and a little salt.
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