Green Beans Almandine

One of the vegetable dishes I remember enjoying as a kid is green beans almandine. This November I decided that I wanted to learn how to make it myself. Toasting almonds couldn't be that hard, right? The only other question was whether the girls could eat almonds without having an allergic reaction. They hadn't reacted to almond milk or almond flour, so they probably would be just fine eating toasted blanched almonds. But you never know. We took the plunge and had them try the almonds. As I had hoped, the girls were fine and didn't react at all. Hooray! Now if I can only get my act together and take them to the allergist for further testing, maybe we can try pecans this coming year.

If you make this dish for us, please get blanched almonds. I haven't tried giving the girls almonds with the skins still on and don't know if they would react to the almond skins or not.

Green Beans Almandine
serves 3 to 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb. green beans
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. blanched almonds
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Instructions:

Steam the green beans until they are tender-crisp. While the green beans are steaming, heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the almonds and stir constantly, tossing the almonds, until they are fragrant and have browned. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the salt and pepper. When the green beans are done, toss them in the pan with the almonds and oil. Serve immediately.