Green Beans Almondine Recipe

Green beans almondine is an Anglicization of the classic French dish haricots verts amandine, and yes, as the name implies, it is made with almonds. These nuts, as well as the butter, garlic, and other seasonings, are something that recipe developer Jennine Rye says make for "a quick and simple way to take green beans from okay to amazing" and transform them into "a side dish that is super flavorful." The butter and almonds, she says, give the beans "a delicious sweet nuttiness" while the aromatics "add beautiful rich base flavors."

One ingredient Rye's using here is the foodie favorite sumac, something she admits isn't found in the traditional French version of this dish. She adds it because she feels that sumac sprinkled over the top of the finished dish gives it "a sharpness and a tang ... and a floral, fruity earthiness that is really beautiful." If you cannot find sumac where you shop, though, Rye suggests lemon zest as a substitute.

The primary ingredient you'll need for this recipe is the green beans, of course, and you'll also need slivered almonds (did you know these are technically a fruit?) for the "almondine" element. Additional ingredients include butter for cooking, plus a shallot, some garlic, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper for flavoring. To finish off the dish, you'll be using sumac and a sliced lemon (well, half of one, at any rate).

The first step in this recipe is to blanch the beans, which you'll do by boiling for just 2 to 3 minutes until they are barely tender. At this point, take them off the heat, drain them, and immediately rinse them in cold water ("shock" them, in chef speak) to make sure they don't get any softer at this point.

Melt the butter in a frying pan, then toast the almonds for about 3 to 4 minutes. They should take on a gold-tinged hue once they're done and will also smell nice and nutty. Be sure not to let them get too brown, though, as slivered nuts can easily scorch.

Take the almonds out of the pan (a slotted spoon will help here), then use the remaining butter to sweat the garlic, shallot, and thyme. Cook them for 5 to 6 minutes, at which point the shallot should be translucent and soft.

Mix the beans into the pan and cook them until they're warmed back up. As they cook, stir them around so they are coated with the butter and all of the other seasonings.

When the beans are heated through, top them with the almonds, sumac, and lemon slices. Rye tells us that this last ingredient "add[s] to the flavor and general aromatics of the dish as well as the aesthetics," and you can also squeeze the lemon slices to add some extra tang if you like. If your lemons contain seeds though, it's best to fish them out as you cut them since you don't want to have to chase a slippery seed through a hill of beans as you eat.