Green Beans in Red Pepper Sauce

The kitchen is in full spring mode. The oven at 375 (always 375), the crockpot on the counter, the pantry stocked with jars from last August's canning — the evidence of a woman who preserves summer against winter and loss against forgetting and food against everything.

Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made cinnamon rolls extra frosting earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.

The garden is waking up. The garlic that overwintered is pushing green shoots through the soil, the annual proof that buried things come back. Jack's seedlings are hardening off in the greenhouse. The Marlene cherry tomato — generation 6 now — ready for transplanting. Every spring the planting is the memorial. Every spring the name goes back in the ground.

With the garlic shooting up and the seedlings nearly ready to transplant, the garden had me thinking about simple, honest ways to cook what comes out of the ground — nothing fussy, nothing that competes with the earth itself. Green beans in a bright red pepper sauce felt exactly right: a dish with color and a little sweetness, the kind of thing you’d set on the table alongside Thursday’s hotdish or any other meal that’s really about the gathering, not the recipe.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
2 large red bell peppers, roasted (or one 12 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Blanch the beans. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 3–4 minutes until bright green and just tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking, then drain again and set aside.
Make the red pepper sauce. In a blender or food processor, combine the roasted red peppers, garlic, smoked paprika, and vegetable broth. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper.
Cook the sauce. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in the blended red pepper sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–7 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld.
Combine. Add the blanched green beans to the skillet. Toss to coat evenly with the sauce and cook for another 2–3 minutes until the beans are heated through. Add red pepper flakes if desired.
Serve. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Green Beans in Red Pepper Sauce — The Garden That Always Comes Back