While I am working away on a big Spring-inspired dessert, which hopefully will be with you this Saturday, today I thought I would share a simple vegetable side. I made a plate of blistered green beans adorned with miso croutons – not your typical Easter meal side but delicious all the same and so easy to make too.
I am a big fan of green beans in almost any shape or form – as long as they are treated properly, not boiled to within an inch of their lives – but I wanted to create a plate of beans that is difficult to put away. Addictive green beans, if you like…as soon as I finished shooting this recipe, I demolished half of this plate so I guess I succeeded. This recipe is as simple as they come. All you need is some stale bread – I used stale Turkish pide as I buy it on a regular basis – quality green beans and a bunch of cupboard staples. I dice my bread and lay it out on a baking tray. I dry it out in a medium hot oven until it’s golden brown and firm so that it doesn’t get too soggy from the marinade.
While the bread is in the oven, I quickly knock together a simple miso marinade, which I then coat my pre-baked croutons in. I return the tray to the oven just to get the marinade baked on and maybe tiny bit charred in places. You need to be careful at this stage as this marinade will burn easily due to the fact it contains sugars.
Wash your beans well, dry them and slice the ends off.
Slice the beans on the diagonal, add spring onions if liked, coat in a bit of oil and bake until tender and blistered in places. Combine the two on a large platter, crush some of the croutons a little to get some variance in texture and enjoy!
350 g / 12½ oz runner or green beans 4 small spring onions / scallions, white & light green part only (optional) 15 ml / 1 tbsp olive oil salt and pepper
ASSEMBLY
