Haricots Verts Salads
Two delicious salads made with the smaller, more delicate cousin to the American Green Bean.
You could certainly make both of these recipes with the American Green Bean, which mostly likely would be the Blue Lake variety. But I like the size, texture and sweeter taste of its French cousin, Haricots Verts, which actually means "green beans" in that language, and is seen in US markets under varietal names like Jade or Nantais.
Emeril’s Creole Christmas, 1997
The first recipe came from a beautifully illustrated cookbook from Emeril Lagasse in 1997 called Emeril's Creole Christmas. I've been a fan of Chef Lagasse since his career took off in the early 1990s. I have no less than five of his twelve cookbooks and have eaten at all of his New Orleans restaurants, some of them several times. His live studio audience cooking show on the Food Network, Emeril Live, was ground breaking and a ratings bonanza until it grew stale and was cancelled in 2007 after 10 years on the air. It's sad to see the aging chef now on TV infomercials for a countertop air fryer.
Roasted Fennel & Green Bean Salad
Emeril's great strength was in his simplicity of ingredients and in pairing things you normally wouldn't think might go together. This dish is the quintessential Emeril recipe: unique pairing of simple ingredients, easy to prepare and sublime in its results. And it beautifully uses an ingredient I don't really use for anything else, fresh fennel. Emeril called this dish a relish, but I think that was taking liberal license with what most of us consider a relish. It's a salad or side dish, best served at room temperature.
I’ve made this dish with both the American and French version of green beans and both work equally well, though my preference is Haricots Verts. If you use American Green Beans instead of Haricots Verts in this recipe, however, double the blanching time.
Haricots Verts Amandine Salad
I'll still give credit to Emeril for giving me the inspiration for this dish, having never thought about using Haricots Verts as a primary salad ingredient. Generally, as with the first recipe, both the American and French variety of these bean pods could be used interchangeably. But I don't think this recipe would work as well with the more corpulent American version and suggest using only true Haricots Verts for this dish. Don't pass up the fresh lemon zest, which gives this salad a bright, fresh taste that stands up well to heavier meat dishes and serves more as a side dish than a salad.
Roasted Fennel & Green Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 fresh fennel bulbs
- 1 medium to large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 lb fresh haricots verts or American green beans
- 4 oz olive oil
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 10-12 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Remove the stalks and leaves from the fennel and cut off the bottom root pod. Remove any discolored leaves from the exterior of the bulbs, then thinly slice them on the bias.
- Combine the fennel with the thinly sliced onions in a large mixing bowl and coat with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Lay out the fennel and onions in a single layer on a cookie sheet or sheet pan, and roast until tender and slightly browned, 60-90 minutes depending on your oven. Reserve the mixing bowl without cleaning.
- Snap the ends off of the green beans. If you're using haricots verts, leave the pods intact. If you're using American green beans, snap the pods in half.
- Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil, and blanch the green beans. If you're using haricot verts, blanch the beans for 1 minute after the water returns to the boil. Double this time if you're using American green beans.
- Remove your green beans to a large bowl of cold water with ice cubes to immediately stop the cooking process. Drain through a colander and pat dry.
- When the fennel and onions come out of the oven, allow them to cool about 15 minutes. Then, combine all the vegetables and any remaining olive oil in the cookie sheet or sheet pan into the same mixing bowl you used before. Mix and toss the green beans, onion and fennel in the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Serve the salads at room temperature.
Haricots Verts Amondine Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb haricots verts
- 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 2-oz pkg slivered almonds (like, Planters or Blue Diamond)
- 1 whole large fresh lemon
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 small shallot, finely minced
- 1 tbsp lemon pepper (like, Mrs. Dash)
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 4-5 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/8 tsp smoked salt
- 1/2 tsp table sugar (or substitute 1 table packet Splenda)
- 8-10 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and snap the ends off of the haricots verts.
- Use a large skillet to bring salted water to a rolling boil, then blanch the green beans into the hot bath for 4 minutes. Immediately remove them to a mixing bowl of cold water, or drain the green beans through a colander, and run cold water over and through them for a couple of minutes.
- In the meantime, zest the whole lemon. Set aside the lemon zest, and then extract all the juice from the lemon to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the Dijon mustard, the minced shallot, lemon pepper, vinegar, smoked salt and the sugar to the mixing bowl and blend well with a wire whisk. Pour the avocado oil in a little at a time while whisking to form an emulsion. Allow the dressing to sit at room temperature for an hour.
- Dry the haricots verts well and add to another mixing bowl. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and red bell pepper. Put this bowl in the refrigerator and allow the ingredients to chill for an hour.
- Finally, assemble the salad by pouring the dressing over the green beans, tomatoes and red bell pepper, add 1/2 of the lemon zest and the slivered almonds; then, toss well, being careful not to masticate the cherry tomatoes.
- Season with freshly cracked black pepper. Dish up portions onto salad plates and garnish with the remaining lemon zest and perhaps a grind or two of more black pepper.
