An easy to prepare green beans recipe with tomato and chile salsa. A southwestern twist on the classical haricots a la Provencale recipe.
One of my mother’s quick and easy dinner vegetable side dishes is this green beans with salsa.
Similar to the southern French classic of green beans with tomatoes, garlic, and onions, this dish takes a southwestern detour and uses salsa, which has the same ingredients as the French dish, with the addition of chilies.
It’s perfect for the summer when fresh green beans are plentiful. The trick of course to great tasting green beans is getting fresh beans!
The best come from neighborhood gardens or the local farmers market. Look for beans that break when you bend them. Limp beans are old and won’t taste good.
If the beans have strings, remove them as part of prep. As you snap the beans to remove the stem end, pull down the side of the bean to draw out the tough string that sometimes accompanies green beans.
Green Beans with Salsa Recipe
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 6 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Note there are many kinds of salsa! Typically salsas are comprised of tomatoes and chiles (cooked, canned, or fresh), chopped onions, garlic, vinegar, and oil. For years we made our own salsa using canned tomatoes and chiles. Now there are some store-prepared salsas that are just as good as the salsas we used to make at home. Any prepared salsa (cooked, not raw) will work with this recipe, whether you make it from scratch or buy it already made.
Ingredients
- Fresh green beans – 1 1b, strings removed, stem end cut off, cut into even sized pieces, approximately 2″ long
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Prepared salsa
Method
1 Boil the green beans: In a medium sized pot, add enough water to cover the beans (about 2 quarts). Add 1 tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water. Bring the water to a boil. Add the beans and boil with the pot uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from stove, strain out the beans, set aside.
2 Heat olive oil, add beans and salsa: Put the empty (dry) pan back on the stove over high heat and add the olive oil. Let this heat up for 1 minute, then toss in the beans and about 1/2 cup of prepared salsa.
Toss to combine and cook 1 minute. Add salt or more salsa to taste.
Links:
Green Beans with Tomatillo Salsa – from A Veggie Venture
Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad – from Smitten Kitchen
