August - Green Beans, Lettuce, & Cherry Tomatoes

THREE SIMPLE RECIPES = ONE DELICIOUS DINNER

Here are 3 simple recipes I made one night for a well rounded and simple dinner. I started with P.F. Chang’s Spicy Green Beans in mind. If you’ve ever had the originals, you know they aren’t too spicy. What they do have is a good amount of garlic and can be addictive.

SPICY GREEN BEANS

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 tbsp Garlic (minced)

  • 3/4 lb Fresh Green Beans

  • 1 tbsp Green Onion

  • 1-2 tbsp Chili Garlic Sauce

  • 1 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce

  • Crushed Red Pepper to taste

  • 1/2 tsp Sugar

  • 1 tsp Rice Vinegar

  • 1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Interpretation of P.F. Chang’s Spicy Green Beans over a bed of white rice.

Interpretation of P.F. Chang’s Spicy Green Beans over a bed of white rice.

Method:

  • Wash and trim the beans and cut them into even pieces (either half or thirds are good sizes)

  • In a bowl, mix together the green onion, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, and sugar

  • In a large skillet or wok, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat

  • Add the garlic to heated oil and saute for 30 seconds to 1 min; just be sure it doesn’t burn or get too much color on it

  • Now add the green beans to the skillet along with the crushed red pepper flakes

  • Stirring often, cook the beans to your desired doneness. I like mine al dente and cooked them for about 3-4 mins

  • Pour the sauce over the beans in the skillet and continue to cook just until everything is heated through and that’s it.

  • I served the beans over a bed of white rice to soak up the extra sauce

Simple green salad with blistered cherry tomatoes & shaved parmesan

Simple green salad with blistered cherry tomatoes & shaved parmesan

This is my go-to side salad when I have a beautiful head of lettuce and want a clean, fresh, and simple addition to any meal. Tonight I changed it up a little by quickly blistering the juicy little tomatoes from the farm’s box. They were delicious!

BASIC SALAD:

  • Remove any dirt from the lettuce by either washing or wiping leaves with damp towel.

  • Pat dry to remove excess water

  • Tear the leaves into large bite-size pieces

  • Dress the lettuce with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and salt & pepper to taste. Give it a quick toss to coat the leaves evenly

Now you can either enjoy just like that or top with any number of additional things you might like. Tonight I chose to finish ours with some shaved Parmesan and of course some blistered cherry tomatoes which I’ll tell you about next.

BLISTERED CHERRY TOMATOES

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 cups Cherry Tomatoes (small)

  • 4-6 cloves Garlic (chopped)

  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat in non-stick pan

  • When the oil is hot, add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds

  • Next add your tomatoes to the hot pan (be careful not to let the hot oil splash up & burn you)

  • Add a large pinch of your favorite flaky sea salt

  • Keep moving the tomatoes around the pan so the skins don’t stick and be sure to get even color all around.

  • After about 3-5 mins, they start to blister/char nicely and you’ll notice they also collapse a bit. At this point, add your balsamic vinegar and move that around your pan gently. Allow that to cook down to a more syrup-like consistency and voila…

  • These little gems are delicious served hot OR when using on top of a salad like I did. Allow them to cool to room temperature first so they won’t wilt your lettuce or melt the cheese.

michelle bourquegreen beans, spicy, sides, fast, blistered, cherry tomatoes, salad, BasicComment