The other night I made a delightful tilapia (from Today's Catch in Wilde Lake, of course) with a sauce of white wine, butter, and dill. It was amazing. I served it with fresh green beans from the farmers market and organic jasmine rice. All of it was perfect. Just one of those magical meals where everything is delicious and everyone eating loves it all.
The green beans were a whole project by themselves. I had never cooked fresh green beans before. Well, that's not true. I had never successfully cooked fresh green beans before. I picked some up last weekend with the goal of mastering their preparation. I found a recipe online that looked easy and tasty, and didn't involve boiling (which is my least favorite cooking method--doesn't it just seem like you're drowning the food and cooking out all of it's flavor??). Basically, the idea was the sautee them in chicken stock in a partially covered pan and season to taste. The recipe suggested beginning with bacon fat, which I naturally declined (my grandmother was the only person in the world who kept a big jar of bacon fat on her countertop--ok, maybe not the only one, but I think that's a tradition we can kiss goodbye). I just melted a little butter with some olive oil, threw the beans in, poured some stock in, slapped that lid on, and let them go for about 20 minutes. They cooked perfectly. While they were still hot, I sprinkled on some Montreal Steak seasoning (yes, I put that sh*t on everything). Divine!
I cooked the rice with a little chicken base for flavor, and it was also perfect.
Sydney took one bite of the green beans and said, "Mom, you mastered these." (She seriously said that.)
SO, I had some rice and green beans leftover (after sending the rest to school with the girls for lunch). I steamed some fresh organic broccoli, which took about 3 minutes, and threw some broccoli, the rice, and the green beans in a pan with a little canola oil. I heated it up, stirred it a bit, threw in some soy sauce and sriracha, and put it in a bowl. I sprinkled some peanuts on top (just regular dry roasted Planter's that I had in the cabinet), and tasted. It was too savory, so I balanced the flavor with a tablespoon or so of honey. It wasn't sweet--just more well-rounded. I have to say it was the most satisfying and delicious lunch I can ever remembering having. And I felt GREAT after eating it, which is really the way I judge every meal I make.
A very easy trick for green beans is to microwave them, covered, for about 3 minutes. They steam themselves, and are perfectly pre-cooked for any kind of "toss with..." or "saute with..." thing you want.
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