Dallas and I haven’t been cooking much at all this summer. We still grill a lot, but we haven’t been cooking new things, really. The last cooking posts I made here were in April and May. Over the weekend I bought some buy one get one free bags of beans at Jewel, so I looked up a recipe on Tuesday, stopped at Whole Foods on the way home, and made a new side dish to go with some leftovers we had. The beans were pretty easy to make and were pretty quick. A good way to dress up plain green beans.

Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots and Gremolata

From: Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup green snap beans, fresh, trimmed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 medium shallot(s), peeled and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 2 Tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped
• 2 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

1. Heat a large pot of water to a simmer. Place green beans in a steamer and steam over simmering water until tender, about 5 minutes. Run steamed green beans under cold running water for 30 seconds to stop cooking; set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add shallots and cook, stirring often (and adding a little water to prevent sticking if necessary), until golden and tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, to make gremolata, combine parsley, lemon zest and garlic in a small bowl.
4. Add green beans to skillet; toss over medium heat until heated through. Season with salt and pepper; toss to mix and coat.
5. Place green beans in a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with gremolata. Yields about 1 cup of green beans and 1 teaspoon of gremolata per serving.