Seven years after its publication, Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables is still the cookbook that comes to mind at this time of year, when summer starts to gently, ever-so-slowly segue into fall. The farmer’s market has tomatoes … but also, apples. It’s hot as Hades this week, but the kids are at school, and there are red leaves appearing here and there on our dogwood tree. It’s summer-autumn … smautum? It’s one of McFadden’s “Six Seasons.”
Here is one of the best recipes from that book—one I resisted making for a long time because I think of good summertime green beans as a classic “doesn’t need much dressing up,” just-blanch-and-add-to-salads vegetable. When I finally tried this preparation, which does require you to turn on the oven (maybe wait until this weekend, when it’ll be cooler), I was blown away by how tasty the roasted beans’ texture was, especially when juxtaposed with the savory roasted scallions. Last week, I got a couple quarts of green beans from Arnold Farms’ heap, bought scallions from the OU student farm at Kindred Market, and made a new batch this week, to eat with plain chicken or tofu. I’m never disappointed.
Green Beans Made In A Most Unusual Fashion
From Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables, by Joshua McFadden
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs. string beans, picked through for perfectness, and with their ends snapped off
- 3 bunches scallions, trimmed slightly at the top, then cut into green-bean length
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ lemon
- Mint and basil leaves
- A handful of toasted pine nuts
- AND ⅓ cup pine nut vinaigrette, from the following recipe, which will make more than you need (the extra is really good on roasted vegetables):
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- ½ cup pine nuts, toasted
- 1 garlic clove
- Dried chile flakes to taste
- ¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
- Set the oven to 425.
- Toast the pine nuts (the ½ c. for the vinaigrette, plus the extra handful for garnish). Spread out on a plate to cool slightly.
- Make the vinaigrette, in a small food processor. Pour the pine nuts and garlic in first and blend to chop up a bit. Add the vinegar, fish sauce, and water. Then add the EVOO and process until the dressing pours smoothly.
- Roast the beans and scallions. Spread on a couple of sheet pans. Season with EVOO, salt, and pepper. Make sure they’re nice and spread out! Rotate and switch the pans a few times in the oven as you go, for about 20 to 30 minutes total time. They should start to look brown in spots (that’s the good stuff right there).
- Put the vegetables in a bowl and toss with the vinegar, lemon, and vinaigrette. Let rest a little while to cool.
- Scatter mint and basil leaves and extra toasted pine nuts on top. Set out with tongs for grabbing!
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