I couldn’t make this just about beans…because the truth is this method will work for any…and I mean any dense or firm vegetable.

Sauté – unlike frying – is to cook food quickly (usually well under 10 minutes)  in a wide, flat bottomed skillet, in a small amount of oil, over high heat. That’s why ingredients like chicken, pork and beef are cut into small, uniform pieces…so they can cook thoroughly in a short amount of time.

But what happens when we want to sauté dense, firm vegetables like green beans, or cauliflower, or broccoli, potatoes of course, but even asparagus if it’s thick? Cutting them in small pieces won’t help much. By the time you get the pieces tender, the outside will be overdone; or when the outside is tender, the inside is still too raw. So here’s what to do.

First blanch them in boiling water for a minute or two…until they just begin to get tender and drain. Some recipes call you to add the vegetable to an ice bath to stop them from cooking further, but I like to simply blanch them a little less. Here’s why. When you add ice cold beans (or anything) to a hot sauté pan, it brings down the temperature of the pan.  But you need it hot! Hot so the vegetable don’t get soggy and oily.  Hot so they come out crispy and flavorful. When blanched, vegetables go from hot to hot instead of from ice cold to hot. Much better.

So now your beans are drained and hot. but let’s back up a bit and start at the beginning for this recipe.

Green Beans with Garlic and Tomato

Ingredients

1 lb. (.45 kg) green beans

1 large clove garlic – finely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil – or enough to cover the bottom of the pan

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup (59 ml) of tomato sauce (get my recipe here)

Season with salt and pepper

Instructions

Add water (enough to immerse the beans) to a saucepan and bring to a boil

Trim them. Here a handy little diagram from “Real Simple” or do it the old fashioned way and grab a bunch in your hands and snap the ends. I like to do both ends, though you can totally leave the ends with the little, skinny tips.

Rinse and add the beans to the boiling water. Boil for about 1 or 2 minutes, just until they begin to tender and turn bright green. Drain and set aside.

Chop the garlic until fine and set aside.

Place your skillet (should be at least an 11″ pan for a pound of beans) over medium heat, add oil and heat until hot but not smoking. If it begins to smoke, remove from the heat until the smoking stops and then return it to the heat.

Add the beans to the pan. Let them cook a minute or so and then stir.

Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook just until the garlic begins to color. Follow quickly with the tomato sauce.

Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes (string occasionally) or until tender.

Season and serve with your favorite bread: French, Italian or Gluten-free

And now over to you. I know you have some sauté questions. Now’s you chance to ask.

Leave a comment below. No question is too basic.

Until next time,

Silvia