Spicy Green Beans

Use a white wine that you’d want to drink after opening. And for those of you looking to speed things up, you don’t need to slice the green beans, but it was a good call, the sauce gets into all the nooks and crevices.

• 1 pound green beans, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70g golden raisins
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• scant 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup / 120 ml crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1/4 cup / 3/4 oz / 20g sliced almonds, toasted
• 1/3 cup / one handful of finely chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook the green beans in a pot of well-salted boiling water for about a minute, just long enough that they lose their raw edge. Drain and dunk in ice-cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside.

In a small bowl cover the raisins with scalding hot water for five minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat your largest skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil, garlic, onion, and bay leaves. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the onions and garlic start to brown just a bit. Add the wine and cook until it has mostly evaporated. Carefully remove the bay leaves. Stir in the paprika, cumin, coriander, curry powder, salt, crushed red pepper flakes. Stir in the tofu and raisins and cook until heated through, a minute or so. Add the butter and green beans and stir until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the crème fraiche, then most of the almonds and most of the cilantro. Taste and add more salt and some pepper if you like. Serve topped with any remaining almonds and cilantro.

Serves 4 to 6.

Inspired by a recipe in Anna Getty’s Anna Getty’s Easy Green Organic, to be published by Chronicle Books, 2010.

Prep time: 30 min - Cook time: 15 min

Source: www.101cookbooks.com