Sunday, August 19, 2007

bean harmony

sorry for the lack of updates this past week, but i've been busy checking in on my competition. you may not have realized it, but i'm actually not the only food blogger on the interweb. keeping tabs on what everyone else is up to helps me keep my little mental kitchen to do (and not to do) list fresh.

one great source of inspiration is the cook and author of the smitten kitchen. she and i have so much in common it's downright scary. for starters we're both from new york and we're both named deb(bie). and then of course there's the obvious - that we're both amazingly talented behind the camera and in the kitchen... and not to mention witty as fuck.



i figured it was about time i share one of her recipes (along with some much needed improvements) with all of you. deb certainly had the right idea but it just lacked that special something. luckily i've come along and tweaked the recipe to perfection.

mixed bean salad with tomato and lemon (by smitten kitchen)
  • 2 medium tomatoes 1
  • ½ pound yellow wax beans, ends trimmed and beans halved crosswise 2
  • ½ pound haricot vert, or slim green beans, ends trimmed and beans halved crosswise 3
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil 4
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced 5
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • glug of white wine 6
  • salt and pepper 7
  • juice of one lemon 8
1 substituted half a can of whole peeled stewed tomatoes
2 omitted
3 substituted one can of cut green beans
4 omitted
5 substituted jarred minced garlic in olive oil
6 substituted red wine
7 omitted
8 used only half a lemon



microwave green beans for two minutes and set aside. heat garlic and red pepper in a large pan. add tomatoes and simmer for a couple minutes. add a splash of red wine and continue to simmer. lower heat and toss in green beans, coating evenly with tomato and garlic. squeeze the juice of half a lemon over everything and serve.



as you can see there was none of that slotted spoon, ice bath, or colander nonsense that deb seemed so fond of. and yet the end result is still a perfectly light summery meal. nice try deb, but next time you might want to check with the expert first.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I am so glad you fixed this recipe up. Sure, it's bean season so the fresh offerings are delicious and reasonably priced, but canned is SO much easier.

dustin said...

Why does this Deb person want to make everything so damn complicated? I think she just wants people to think she's better than them. Well, she's wrong. Do you hear that Deb? YOU'RE WRONG!

Anonymous said...

while it's a wonderful idea to modify recipes to be more everyperson-friendly, i don't think there's any need to be snarky with a fellow foodblogger's website. be chill, foodfriend.