Easy Green Beans Almondine

Easter is Sunday, April 1st, and the timing this year has a quality I find bracing: Easter on April Fools' Day, which for a woman who has been learning since January 2016 that grief and joy are not opposites but occupants of the same space, feels like a theological statement that I did not ask for but will accept. The resurrection on the day of jokes. The surprise that is not a prank. I mentioned this to Brandon on Saturday and he said: you think too much. I said: I know. He said: it is one of the things I love about you. I said: one of. He said: yes, one of. This is as close to a love poem as we get, and I find it exactly sufficient.

I made the ham. The glaze, the diamond scoring, the cloves at the intersections. Eight pounds, same as always, same formula as Denise's, same 325-degree oven for three hours. The deviled eggs were piped, three dozen of them, because Denise pipes them and because a piped deviled egg looks like someone cared. The house smelled like Easter before the kids were out of bed.

Lily used her professional colored pencils to make Easter cards for everyone in the family and for Grandma and Grandpa Cooper, which she mailed herself on Thursday with stamps she asked me to buy and put on herself with a care that suggests she understands that stamps are small and important things. The cards were elaborate: each person got an illustration specific to them. Mine was of a kitchen with a freezer in it and the freezer had a halo. I said: does my freezer have a halo? She said: it should. I agree with her completely.

The Freezer Meal Mom document is twelve paragraphs now. The Why I Started section mentions Grace by name for the first time. I wrote it on Holy Saturday, which I think was not accidental, the way grief and Easter and the freezer are all connected for me in a way that would take more than twelve paragraphs to explain but which I am, slowly, trying to explain.

Every Easter I set the ham in the oven and pipe three dozen deviled eggs and then I remember that the plate still needs something green, something simple, something that does not compete with the main event but shows up and does its job with quiet elegance. Green beans almondine is that dish for me — butter, toasted almonds, a little lemon — and it has been on the table next to the ham for as long as I have been making Denise’s recipe. It takes twenty minutes, it pairs with everything, and it looks like someone cared, which is the whole point.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon lemon zest, for garnish

Instructions

Blanch the green beans. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until crisp-tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and pat dry.
Toast the almonds. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the sliced almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a small bowl and set aside.
Sauté the green beans. In the same skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the blanched green beans and toss to coat in the butter. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until warmed through and lightly browned in spots.
Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving dish, top with the toasted almonds and a sprinkle of lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Green Beans Almondine — The Side Dish That Belongs Next to Denise’s Ham