Lemon Garlic Green Beans Recipe

Springtime always arrives with an array of bright and natural edible gifts (you know, vegetables), that collide delightfully with a succession of holidays that have everyone from your best friend to your favorite aunt asking if you'd mind bringing a "little something" to the annual [insert holiday] meal. Think Holi, Passover, Easter, and all the rest. Fortunately, recipe developer Christina Musgrave has a mind-bogglingly simple recipe for what could easily be described as "spring on a plate" that makes a perfect shareable dish. 

As Musgrave tells Tasting Table, "This recipe is a great, easy recipe for spring. It's very basic and works [for] a variety of events — Easter, Mother's Day, etc." Of course, you needn't wait for a special event to enjoy Musgrave's lemon garlic green beans. You just need a couple pounds of fresh green beans from your produce section plus some essential fridge staples like a few cloves of garlic and a lemon. "I like serving this with a roast chicken and a side salad for a complete and delicious meal," says Musgrave. Further, she adds, "These easy beans are also great for meal prepping lunches throughout the week as an easy vegetable." So, if you've got about 15 minutes and feel like waking up your taste buds, follow along with this recipe.

For Musgrave's recipe for lemon garlic green beans, you'll need 2 pounds of fresh green beans, cleaned and trimmed. For the garlic sauce, you'll need 2 tablespoons butter, 3 fresh garlic cloves, minced, 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh is ideal), ½ teaspoon salt, and a ½ teaspoon black pepper. You'll also want to have some fresh lemons around for slicing into wedges for serving. 

If you've not yet trimmed the green beans, let's do that now by slicing off the pointy ends. Next, salt a pot of water, and set in on the stove to boil. When it's boiling, add the trimmed green beans, and set a timer for 2 minutes. While you're waiting for the timer to go off, you'll have just the right amount of time to prep an ice bath for your green beans. To do so, line a large bowl with ice.

As soon as the timer goes off, you're going to want to be right there to remove the beans from the heat and dump out the hot water into the sink. Remove the beans from the water and immediately transfer them into their ice bath. Then, top with more ice. While the green beans cool down, turn to the next step. 

Heat the 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the 3 minced garlic cloves, and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Finally, add the green beans, the teaspoon fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper to the pan. Sauté for 5 minutes. Serve with sliced lemon wedges, and enjoy your spring!