Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds

Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 25 min. Cook Time: 25 min.

A Spring/Summer/Fall variation on a vegetable staple. These green beans are a vibrant green, with tart flecks of lemon zest, and a sweet salty crunch from the almonds.

Ingredients
Green Beans

1 pound green beans, de-stemmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated or finely minced
juice of ½ lemon plus ½ teaspoon zest
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Almonds

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons water
2 cups slivered almonds

Directions
Green Beans

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, zest, salt, and pepper.
Boil the beans until tender but still vibrant green and a little bit crunchy, about 2 to 4 minutes. The timing will depend on their size..
Drain the green beans in a colander, and rinse under cold water. Transfer to a kitchen towel and pat dry. Transfer to a serving dish and toss with the dressing.

Almonds

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the Confectioners sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper and water.
Add the almonds to the sugar mixture and stir until the nuts are evenly coated.
Transfer the almonds to the baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. (If they are clumped together, they won't cook evenly).
Drizzle remaining sauce over the nuts. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the almonds are crusty on top and caramelized and golden on the bottom. Immediately slide the parchment off of the hot baking sheet and allow the pecans to cool completely on the countertop. Once cool, remove the almonds from the parchment, breaking apart any clusters if necessary, and store in an airtight container.

Sulli Says: You don’t actually need two cups of almonds. However, once you taste them you’ll end up eating most of them like I do!

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