Food & Wine (February 2015)
Here's what your vegetables have been missing: butter.
We served this dish of Warm Green Beans and Lettuce in Anchovy Butter the other night when we had our friends Vicky and Amanda over for dinner. At one point Vicky commented that she typically wasn't a huge fan of green vegetables, but that she loved this dish.
"Oh thanks!" we said. "We do too."
But inside we were thinking, Duh! It's all about the butter.
In the course of regular (see: non-blog) cooking in our kitchen, we rarely reach for butter. But we each grew up in houses and families that used liberal amounts of butter (see: the South). And this recipe reminds us of why people love it.
Here, butter brings a welcome richness to the warm lettuces, green beans and anchovies that make up the major flavors of this dish. Because it's served warm, this isn't quite a salad to us, but more of a side dish, which was more than welcome at our table on a cold, wintry night in our nation's capital.
This is an excellent "bridge" dish between seasons. It's not quite wintry, not completely spring, but just right for a chilly night.
Do you cook lettuces and serve them warm? We'd love to hear your ideas for other variations on warm salad greens.
Warm Green Beans and Lettuce in Anchovy Butter
Food & Wine (February 2015), recipe by Jasmine Hemsley and Melissa Hemsley
Subscribe to Food & Wine
(This photo: Nicholas Hopper for Food & Wine)
Total time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound green beans, trimmed
6 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 heads Little Gem or baby romaine lettuce, quartered lengthwise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
Sea salt
Pepper
1 scallion, thinly sliced
Chopped pistachios and extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish.
METHOD
In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the green beans, anchovies and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the beans to a large plate.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and the lettuce to the skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until the lettuce is golden and crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the green beans and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Transfer the beans and lettuce to a serving platter and top with the sliced scallion. Scatter with pistachios, drizzle with olive oil and serve warm with lemon wedges.
