green beans almondine

• 1 pound fresh green beans, caps snapped off
• sliced almonds, unseasoned
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 lemon

Boil green beans in large pot for 4 minutes or until cooked but still crisp. Drain and rinse with cold water (to stop them from cooking further). Saute almonds in butter for three minutes over medium high flame. Add green beans, squeeze juice of lemon over mixture, and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

The dish: Two keys here: 1. Make sure that the green beans are cooked, but not too much. You want them to be firm with a snap and a bright green color. 2. As always, fresh lemon juice is imperative. That bottle in the fridge is OK for emergencies or when baked into a dish with many ingredients, but with so little going on in this dish you want to make sure that each component shines. No matter what the label says, that stuff in the bottle is not made with real lemons, it's made with some crazy chemicals in a plant along the Jersey turnpike that looks like it should be producing something much different than food flavorings.