GREEN BEANS

WE'VE FOUND THAT GREEN BEANS respond better to boiling than steaming. A pound of beans in a standard steamer basket will not cook evenly—the beans close to the steaming water cook more quickly than the beans at the top of the pile. Stirring the beans once or twice as they cook solves this problem, but it is somewhat dangerous to stick your hand into the hot pot. Boiling is simpler—just add the beans and cook until tender—and it permits the addition of salt during cooking.

Unlike other vegetables that can become soggy when boiled, the thick skin on green beans keeps the texture crisp and firm. Leave beans whole when boiling; cut beans will become waterlogged. Boiled beans can be flavored with some butter or oil, dressed with a vinaigrette, or sautéed briefly in a flavorful fat.

A second cooking option is braising. We found that the thick skin on most beans means that they are fairly slow to absorb flavorful liquids like tomatoes, cream, or stock. For this reason, we had the best success when we braised the beans for a full 20 minutes.

Braised beans lose their bright green color. Older, tougher beans benefit from long cooking, but really fresh green beans are best boiled and then seasoned, so as to retain as much of their flavor and texture as possible.