Quick post: green beans with black lime & cherry tomatoes
This is a bit of a throwback. Not the flavours - they're cribbed straight from the new Ottolenghi book. No, it's an old-school "I made this last night and wrote it down before I forgot, here you go" post. I don't really do those much lately.
Yes, I got exactly one half-decent picture…
Since about 2015, I've not really been happy posting anything I've not cooked successfully at least twice, and double checked the measurements. Only seems fair, really. Typically this has also involved taking pictures in good light with a DSLR. That part’s just me being fussy.
As a function of that all taking really quite a lot of time, and me being really quite a lot busier than I was when I started blogging in 2006 (fourteen years, fuck!) there are now fewer recipes on the site, and more in my "drafts" book on OneNote.
But I made this yesterday and wanted to share it. It’s a big punchy veg dish that would work as a side but might trample simple flavours. I had it with leftover quiche and that did not work. Try it with grilled lamb. Or throw in some leftover chicken (or maybe chunks of seitan) for the final few minutes of cooking and eat it in a flatbread with a drizzle of yoghurt maybe?
I dunno. Like I said, cooked this exactly once. It was tasty though.
So here you go. Caveat, uh, coquus I guess? If fourteen years seems like a long time, it's been seventeen since I studied any Latin.
Ingredients:
Fine green beans, 200g
Mixed small tomatoes, 150g (cherry, baby plum, little yellow ones, whatever)
Black lime, 1 (small inasmuch as they vary)
Garlic, 2-3 cloves
Pumpkin seeds, 3tbsp
Salt, pinch
Olive oil, probably 2 tbsp
Chilli flakes, 1/4tsp (ancho or something fruity)
Instructions:
Top and tail the beans. Halve the tomatoes. Peel the garlic. Heat the oven to 200c
Crush the black lime under your palm to flatten it out, and then put it into a pestle & mortar. This step stops shards pinging everywhere when you start whacking it with the pestle. I guess you could use a blender? I didn’t but I don’t see why not.
Add the garlic, 1tbsp of the pumpkin seeds, and a good pinch of salt. Work this all down to a rough paste, add a teaspoon or so of oil, and work it a bit smoother.
Put the beans and the remaining 2tbsp of pumpkin seeds in a sturdy oven dish, toss them in some more oil, and put them in the oven for 15 mins.
After that 15 mins, the beans should be basically done and a little wrinkled on the outside. Reduce the heat to 160. Throw in the tomatoes and about three quarters of the black lime paste. Toss it together and return to the oven for 10 mins.
At this point the tomatoes should have softened and everything is done. You can either serve now, or add a bit more of the lime paste to give it some more punch, and pop it back in the oven for 5 mins to soften the garlic flavour.
I think this would make a pretty great - if intense - wrap with some seitan, or work as a funky bruschetta topping. I’ll definitely be doing it again.
Black limes aren’t exactly a store cupboard staple for a lot of folks, I’m sure. Heck, I bought my first bag in October. Instant convert. They’re amazing. Zingy-sweet-umami funtimes. But yes, it’s pure post-Ottolenghi bourgeois self parody that they should be a casual addition for a quick veg side, like sundried tomatoes in the nineties.
I’m not sure you can omit them here. But you could make something also nice by using the zest of a lime at the end, and a squeeze of juice in the middle instead.