How to make green beans tender and flavorful

Green bean season is in full swing, and if my friend’s garden is an accurate measure, it is a great crop this year. Many of the romano beans are nearly a foot long, and it has become nearly as hard to keep up with them as it is with zucchini.

Romano beans are snap beans, just like their yellow cousins Spanish Musica, green string beans, yellow string beans and haricots verts. All can be prepared similarly, though tiny haricots verts need much less cooking than the others. All other varieties should be cooked long enough that they have lost their raw texture and their flavors have begun to blossom. Undercooked green beans often find their way into the compost, after being left on the plate in both restaurants and homes.

Julia Child was infamous for her dislike of undercooked and undersalted green beans. At a lunch in her honor a number of years ago, Jacques Pepin leaned toward me and whispered, “Thank god the green beans are cooked enough!”

To cook green beans properly, the cooking water must be sufficiently salted and the cooked beans must be salted again, before serving.

I rarely consult a recipe when I cook green beans. A favorite way I enjoy them is with sliced potatoes, sliced Armenian cucumbers, red onion, sliced hard-cooked egg and a simple lemon vinaigrette. Any type of snap bean works in this easy potato salad.

Snap beans are full of good nutrients and low in calories. One half cup contains 2 grams of fiber, 22 calories, 29 milligrams of calcium, 187 milligrams of potassium and significant amounts of vitamins A, C and E.

We can enjoy them with abandon during their season, and once we know how to cook them properly, we will be eager to do so. If you’ve been ho-hum about this delightful summer vegetable, consider giving them another try.

Green beans and basil are happy companions and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. This is one of the simplest.

Green Beans with Butter & Basil

Serves 4

Kosher salt

1 ¼ pound Blue Lake green beans, trimmed (see Note below)

3 tablespoons butter

8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

Black pepper in a mill

Fill a medium saucepan two-thirds full with water, add a tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water reaches a full rolling boil, add the green beans, stir and watch until the water returns to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes, remove a bean and carefully taste it for doneness. Continue to test every 30 seconds until the beans are perfectly cooked; your teeth should bite through easily but there should be a tiny bit of resistance.

Immediately drain the beans thoroughly, tip into a warmed serving bowl, add the butter and half the basil, toss and season with salt and several turns of black pepper. Scatter the remaining basil over the top and enjoy right away.

Note: The stem end of green beans should be snipped off, but the blossom ends do not need to be removed. The easiest way to do this is to arrange the beans on your work surface with the stem ends lined up evenly together. Use a sharp knife to cut close to the stem.

In the 1950s and ’60s, a lot of moms added bacon to canned green beans to encourage kids to eat more vegetables. It worked with me, but I was also quite adept at picking out the slivers of bacon to nibble separately.

Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

Serves 4 to 6

Kosher salt

1 pound Blue Lake green beans

3 or 4 bacon slices

1 small shallot, minced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice

Black pepper in a mill

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pint cherry tomatoes, preferably mixed colors, quartered

2 garlic cloves, pressed

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Fill a medium saucepan two-thirds full with water, add a tablespoon of kosher salt and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water reaches a rolling boil, add the green beans and stir gently until the water returns to a boil. Cook until just tender but not mushy, about 4 to 4 ½ minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium heat until it is crisp; transfer to absorbent paper. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Return the pan to medium-low heat, add the shallot and cook gently until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Add the vinegar or lemon juice, the olive oil and several turns of black pepper. Remove from the heat.

When the beans are perfectly cooked, drain them thoroughly, tip them into a wide and shallow serving bowl and immediately add the tomatoes and garlic; toss gently.

Taste the vinaigrette, heat through if needed and correct for salt. Pour over the green beans and tomatoes and toss gently.

Working quickly, crumble the bacon. Scatter the parsley over everything, followed by the crumbled bacon, and enjoy right away.

Variations:

• Serve over medium-length pasta such as gemelli or strozzapreti, steamed rice or creamy polenta.

• Add about 3 ounces Brie or other triple-cream cheese, sliced or broken into pieces, to the green beans and tomatoes before adding the vinaigrette.

The technique of cooking romano beans long and slow is from the late Judy Rodgers, who included it in her remarkable book “Zuni Cafe Cookbook” (Norton, 2003). It is counterintuitive these days, when al dente vegetables are the norm. But these, I promise, are luscious and delicious. If you do not want salmon with the beans, just omit it or see the variation that follows the main recipe.

Long-Cooked Romano Beans with Wild Pacific King Salmon

Serves 4

1 pound wild Pacific king salmon, pin bones removed, in 4 equal pieces

Kosher salt

Black pepper in a mill

2 pounds romano, Kentucky Wonder or Spanish Musica green beans, trimmed and cut into 3-inch lengths

¼ cup mild olive oil

A few pinches of red pepper flakes, to taste

4 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed

Set the salmon on a clean work surface and season it all over with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

Put the beans into a wide, deep saute pan and drizzle with the olive oil, coating all the beans. Use your fingers to sprinkle the red pepper flakes over the beans as your turn them in the oil.

Set the garlic cloves on top of the beans and set over very low heat. Stir every few minutes, until you begin to hear a very faint sizzle, for the first 30 minutes; do not let the beans scorch and do not add water.

Once the beans begin to soften, usually after about 45 minutes, stir again. Season lightly with salt.

Check on the beans every 30 minutes or so, but stir only once more, and gently, to avoid crushing the beans.

When the beans are almost fully tender, set the salmon fillets on top and continue to cook, covered, until the beans are fully tender and concentrated in flavor.

Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Use a thin metal spatula to transfer beans and salmon to plates or wide, shallow bowls. Season with a little more salt and pepper and enjoy right away.

• Variation: Omit the salmon. After dishing up the green beans, top each portion with a generous spoonful of burrata and a shower of thinly sliced basil.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “The Good Cook’s Book of Oil & Vinegar.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com