braised green beans with dill

Oh January. How you hurt. When the lights of the holidays go dark, you hurt. When Christmas trees end up on the sidewalk, noble firs ignobly discarded, you hurt. When the music stops and I hear shouts to cleanse! cut this! cut that! you hurt so much I want to clap my hands over my ears.

I can’t make a raft of resolutions and stick to them. I can do one thing and one thing only and that is eat more vegetables. Not just “eat your vegetables,” but “eat more vegetables.” As in putting roasted cauliflower and butternut squash cubes in salads. As in sautéing Swiss chard. As in adding peppers to eggs and noshing whole carrots for snacks. As in braising green beans to bring out their glory, as I do in this recipe I created for the winter issue of Gluten-Free Forever (which is a great magazine even if you eat gluten, which I do). You can serve this as a side dish, a warm lunch, a main dish sprinkled with feta cheese, or breakfast with a poached egg. Any which way, it is healthy and easy and wonderful. When the editor tested it, she emailed me to say it was pure, unadulterated love. We could all use a little of that right now. Right, January?

ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
1 pound green beans (see note)
1/2 cup low-sodium broth or water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or dill or fresh parsely plus 1 teaspoon dried dill
optional: 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese (if serving as a main dish)

directions

In a wide sauté pan or frying pan, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and stir well; when onions start to sizzle, spread them out in pan and reduce heat to med-low. Cook, stirring a few times, until onions are limp, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, snap tops off beans then snap each bean in half. Add beans to pan and increase heat to medium-high; stir until beans start to darken in color a bit, about 1 minute. Pour in broth or water, bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are soft and pale-green in color, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir in herbs. Let beans cool for a few minutes then season to taste with salt. Serve, sprinkled with feta cheese, if desired.

note: use fatter beans, like Blue Lake, not skinny Haricot Verts. When they are in season, use romano beans.