green beans with pecan/ginger/miso sauce

Like it says. I adapted this from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian,” having no walnuts on hand but plenty of pecans, and it came out kind of amazing. I’ve made it twice this week, the second time with some flat beans from the farmer’s market. A plus plus, as they say.

Trim and cut into whatever size you like:

1 pound green beans (or flat beans!)

Dunk them in boiling water for just a couple of minutes, until they’re not raw any more but are still crisp. Then drain and shock them by running cold water over them until they’re room temperature-ish. Drain and set aside.

Combine in a food processor or blender:

1 tablespoon or so chopped or grated ginger

3 tablespoons miso (I think it was a bit better with red miso, but your mileage may vary)

1 teaspoon soy sauce

a couple of tablespoons of water

1/2 cup pecans

Blend (or process) until they’re a relatively consistent sauce—pourable more than scrapeable, if you see what I mean. (There will probably be some scraping-down-the-side involved.) Add a bit more water if you need to. Then pour the sauce over the beans and stir to coat them, and you’re done. SO GOOD.