Lemony Green Beans

By mz0926

From Cook's Country

February/March 2010
Why this recipe works:
Adding lemon juice directly to the water we used to steam our Lemony Green Beans made them soft and turned them a drab olive green. We found lemon zest provided lemon flavor without any unpleasant side effects. Even a full lemon’s worth of zest gave us scant lemon flavor, until we cut the beans in half. Exposing more surface area allowed the lemon flavor to penetrate the beans.

Ingredients

• Serves 4
• For green beans with a richer glaze, add an extra 2 tablespoons of butter in step 2.
• Ingredients1/4 cup water
• 2 (2-inch) strips zest, 1 teaspoon grated zest, and 1 1/2 teaspoons juice, from 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions
1. COOK BEANS Bring water, strips of lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and sugar to boil in large skillet. Add green beans, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook until liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Discard lemon strips.


2. SEASON BEANS Off heat, add butter, grated lemon zest, and juice; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve.