Green Beans

Recently I've gotten into the habit of taking Sebastian to the park late in the afternoon. We're often still there when my husband is walking home from work; he joins us and we play together for a half hour or so before heading home for dinner.

The other day, we played for longer than we should have, and so we stopped at a diner for dinner. I wanted a side of vegetables for Sebastian but didn't have high hopes. Diners usually serve good grilled cheese sandwiches but the vegetable sides leave a lot to be desired. I was trying to decide between the overcooked broccoli and the under-cooked cauliflower when the waiter suggested the sautéed green beans. Since green beans are one of Sebastian's favorites, we ordered them.

When the waiter brought out the beans, I was surprised because they were delicious. They weren't sautéed so much as stewed with tomato, garlic and oregano. Sebastian loved them and Stephen and I wrangled over the last few bites. The market has been full of green beans lately, so I decided to try making the dish at home.

Using fresh green beans from the market and a can of stewed tomatoes, here is what I came up with: I heated about four tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot, then added a large onion (diced) and five cloves of garlic (sliced) and sautéed them (over medium heat, stirring frequently) until the onion was translucent. Then I tossed in one pound of green beans (washed and cut into one-inch pieces), one and a half cups of canned tomatoes (15 ounces), a half cup water, one and a half teaspoons dried oregano and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I covered it and cooked it over low heat for about 50 minutes until the beans were very tender. It was delicious.

The dish would work very well with ripe raw tomatoes as well (I'd probably double the amount), and fresh oregano, parsley or basil would be nice also. I can even see adding in fresh bell peppers, mushrooms and/or zucchini. The dish had a stewy texture that would be very nice over long-grain brown rice, grilled fish or couscous.