Happy holidays y’all! We’re getting close to our Christmas celebration and I personally can’t wait to finally put these dishes together and wow my family. I’ve been professionally cooking for the past 7 years. However, living in Las Vegas with just my ex-wife and daughter I never got a chance to show my magical powers off to my family. Now that I get a chance, I can hardly wait to have them taste my creations and inspirations I’ve been conjuring up.

Today’s recipe is another one from the powerful and almighty, Whole Foods Market. It’s a plant-strong recipe, low in sodium and zero fat and cholesterol. Once again folks, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. This recipe is so simple and tasty that why not share it with y’all and feature it on my countdown? It has only 6 ingredients and takes 20 minutes in total to make. Depending on your skills in the kitchen, if you know your way around prioritizing a prep list, this should be a cinch. I always say that “Simplicity is key to greatness!” Sometimes there are just those ingredients that speak for themselves and don’t need that much fuss and muss to attract many palates. Enough said, here’s the recipe…

Green Beans with Pecans and Clementine Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1 small shallot, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• Zest and juice of 3 clementines
• 1 1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Method:

• (Boil a medium to large pot of water. Add a teaspoon of salt for every gallon of water to bring out the natural flavor of the beans.)
• In a blender, combine shallot, mustard, salt and clementine juice and blend until smooth. Set aside.
• Steam beans until bright green and barely tender, about 6 minutes. (If you have a steamer, this is perfectly fine way of cooking the beans. However, most home cooks don’t have a steamer handy so boiling, or rather blanching, would be a better solution. To Blanch Beans: Boil water. Fill a large bowl [enough to cool down beans] with ice water. Once the water is a-boiling, dunk the beans for about 4 minutes. You’ll notice that its green color will brighten. Then, quickly remove beans from the boiling water and submerge into the ice water to stop the cooking process and to freeze the color in the beans. Yum! This way will keep it bright green and crisp!)

• Transfer to a large bowl and drizzle with citrus dressing. Sprinkle with pecans and clementine zest to taste and serve.

THAT’S IT! Told you it was quick and easy. And oh, so tasty! Now for my little holiday twist.

SMN Variations:

• Sprinkle 1 cup of pomegranate seeds over the green beans to add more texture and another bright burst of color. Plus it just boosts the flavor profile that much more.

• If you want to be bold and brave, lightly toast your pecans before sprinkling over the beans. In a dry sauté pan, toast your pecans over medium heat while constantly moving the pecans around in the pan to prevent burning. You can tell the pecans are perfectly toasted once you start smelling a warm, nutty flavor and the pecans start to brown a bit.

Any questions, you know where to reach me! Enjoy! 🙂

-Chef Flo