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Roasted sesame green beans

April 15, 2008

in meatless, recipes, tips and tools, vegetables

This green beans recipe is fast and easy. It's a healthy side dish on the table in under 30 minutes.

I love Asian flavors. Love. A few months ago, somewhere in my travels by mouse click, I spotted an interesting recipe for roasted vegetables with sesame oil. I was sure I saved it but when the mood for such a thing struck, I couldn’t find it for the life of me.

Luckily, roasting veggies is not on a par with making brioche, so it was easy to concoct my own. I used enough sesame oil to add dimension to the flavors, but not enough to be hot or overwhelming. By all means, use more if you wish. I love this method of preparing vegetables because the payoff is big for so little work; the oven and caramelization enhance the flavors, making it unnecessary to use more than just a few good ingredients. As I made this, I thought of Chef Ming Tsai’s words: simpler is always better.

Because the ingredients are few, make sure your olive oil is a good quality extra-virgin and not rancid. All seeds go rancid too, so I store them in their original bottles in the freezer. They stay fresh much longer that way.

Ella’s Roasted Sesame Green Beans

1 pound green beans, on the thin side, trimmed
2 TB sesame seeds, toasted*
2 1/2 TB extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
coarse salt

*The easiest way to toast sesame seeds is to put them in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until brown.

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400F/205C/Gas 6. Line a baking sheet will foil and arrange the beans in a single layer.

When the sesame seeds are cool enough to handle (it only takes a minute or two), mix and blend the oils together in a small bowl. Drizzle the oil onto the beans and toss well to coat evenly. Sprinkle on coarse salt. Sprinkle the beans with 3/4 of the sesame seeds, reserving the remainder.

Roast for 8 minutes. Stir and roast for another 8 minutes.

Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle on the reserved seeds and serve immediately.

Serves 6 or 8

To serve 2: Use 1/4 pound of beans, a scant 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil and 3/8 teaspoon of sesame oil. Roast for the same times.

Related posts on From Scratch: Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Butter

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Thanks and Thoughts « MusEditions
November 28, 2008 at 2:28 am

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 sage April 15, 2008 at 7:28 pm

Oh, my mouth is watering for summer fresh picked! :)

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2 ellaella April 16, 2008 at 12:20 am

Thanks! When I can get them at the farmers’ market I often just eat them raw. Big yummy.

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