String Beans with Date Vinaigrette
Food and prop styling by Amit Farber Photography by Daniel Lailah
Vinaigrette In this exotic dish string beans are combined with dehydrated coconut and a sweet tangy dressing. It’s really really good.
Ingredients
Serves 8–10
- 1–1½ lbs (½ k) fresh string beans stemmed and washed a generous handful dehydrated coconut strips
- 4 Medjool dates pitted
- 1 small shallot
- 1½–2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp white wine or rice vinegar
- ½ Tbsp brown sugar
- a generous shake cayenne pepper
Preparation
The easiest way to cook fresh green beans is to blanch and shock them. First prepare a large bowl of ice water. Set aside. Bring a 2–3-quart pot of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt — up to 2 Tbsp. This keeps the vegetables bright green. Add green beans to the boiling water and cook for about 1 minute. Taste one of them — it should be al dente — firm but not raw.
Now that the beans are cooked we want to stop them from cooking any further. Using a slotted spoon remove the beans from the boiling water and drop them into the ice water. Let them sit in the water until they are completely cooled. Then drain well. For vinaigrette: Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
To serve: Place the string beans on a serving platter. Pour vinaigrette over and gently stir together. Sprinkle coconut strips over all. Serve hot.
Note: Coconut strips taste delicious as is (we actually noshed the entire bag!). However to add depth of flavor they can be toasted in the oven for a few minutes until light brown.
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