Green Beans with Almonds
This is a delicious side dish that I usually make at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but my 10 year old niece always requests it when she sees me!
This is a delicious side dish that I usually make at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but my 10 year old niece always requests it when she sees me!
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds toasted
- 2 tb margarine
- 1 bag green beans microwave bags of green beans or get about 1 lb fresh
- 1 tb sour cream greek yogurt works too, but i actually prefer sour cream for this
- salt to taste (optional)
- pepper to taste (optional)
- cup pearled onions cooked with outer shell removed
- Carbohydrate 0 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0 g
- Saturated Fat 0 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (100g)
- Sodium 0 mg
- Sugar 0 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Calories 0 calories
Step-by-step
- Cook or steam your green beans until bright green (don't overcook!!)
- add green beans to a large tupperware container
- add in butter/margarine and garlic
- cover and shake until well coated (you can stir too, but I find shaking does a better job)
- sprinkle evenly with garlic powder, salt and sour cream
- cover and shake again until the sour cream has lightly coated the green beans and is "melted" in
- gently toss in pearled onions and toasted almond slivers
- sprinkle salt and pepper to taste
- ENJOY!
- Pearled onions can be found in the produce section and come in a mesh bag. Immerse the bag of onions in boiling water until tender (5-10 minutes). Remove from water and squeeze to remove the shells. That's it!
Cooking green beans within a strict thirty-minute window requires managing residual heat so the chlorophyll stays vibrant rather than dulling into an olive drab. Steaming vegetables rapidly preserves cell wall integrity, locking in a bright green hue before any fat is introduced. Green beans paired with toasted almonds form a classic French bistro pairing known as haricots verts amandine, traditionally relying on browned butter to coat the slender pods. This modern adaptation streamlines the technique by substituting heavy reduction with a clever dairy emulsion.
Raw garlic burns easily when exposed directly to high heat, developing a bitter flavor profile. Mincing the clove finely and combining it with margarine inside a sealed container leverages mechanical agitation to distribute the aromatics evenly across the warm surfaces of the legumes. Adding one tablespoon of sour cream creates a clinging sauce that binds the garlic powder and seasonings to the slippery skins of the beans without requiring a separate stovetop reduction pan.
Toasted slivered almonds provide necessary crunch against the tender-crisp bite of the steamed pods. Monitor the nuts closely during dry-pan heating, as they burn within seconds once they reach golden brown. Pearled onions boiled directly in their skins for eight minutes slide out effortlessly when squeezed, offering a sweet, tender contrast to the sharp garlic and toasted nuts.
