Pan Charred Green Beans
A little char on green beans adds a ton of flavor. Giving them that char, while cooking them through is an easy exercise in a skillet, if you know just a few tricks.
Equipment
- 12" skillet with lid
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh green beans
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ΒΌ lb sweet red pepper or cherry tomatoes optional
- optional seasonings see notes
Instructions
- Clean and dry the green beans and cut them into 1.5 to 2 inch pieces.
- If you add the optional sweet peppers, cut them into pieces of size compatible with the green beans. If you add the optional cherry tomatoes, leave them whole.
- Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering.
- Add the vegetables to the skillet. You will stir infrequently. Wait 3-4 minutes between stirs. Stir from the bottom to flip the vegetables to get different surfaces in direct contact with the hot skillet. If you do not see charred spots, increase the temperature delay the stirring further.
- After about 4 stirs, there should be a nice amount of charring. Decrease the heat to low, add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover the skillet. Allow the green beans to gently steam until tender-crisp.
- Season the vegetables with salt and pepper or other optional seasonings as mentioned in the notes.
Notes
These charred green beans are extremely flexible to season. Options include:
- Simple salt and pepper.
- Pesto (basil, carrot top, garlic scape, etc)
- Minced capers
- Minced Kalamata olives
- An Asian influenced combination of minced ginger, garlic and scallion with some soy sauce and toasted sesame oil.
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