Recipe Review

Recipe Review: Green Beans with Walnut-Miso Sauce

updated Jun 5, 2019
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

It’s wonderful when recipes we’ve forgotten suddenly reappear. This side dish of fresh green beans tossed with a rich and flavorful paste was one of our dinner party staples several years ago, but it had faded into the background. This weekend we resurrected it and remembered why it’s such a favorite…

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

This recipe came from a New York Times Dining article about Yumiko Kano and her brand of Japanese cooking. We were on a miso kick at the time and the idea of walnuts and miso ground together with ginger was very appealing.

It’s a very quick dish. After you blanch and drain the beans you grate a little ginger, then whiz it in the food processor with a cup of walnut pieces and a few tablespoons of miso paste. A little soy sauce thins it down and the paste is stirred into the beans.

The resulting dish looks a little odd – a reddish tan paste spread through the bright green beans, which are blanched just until crisp and tender.

But it’s incredibly delicious – full of savory flavor and tender walnut meat, bound with salty, rich miso. The flavors don’t obscure the fresh beans’ own sweetness; it all works together for an easy and wonderful side dish.

We served it with a ginger pork tenderloin, cooked in the Crock-Pot, and a cabbage-sesame salad. Delicious! We highly recommend this recipe.

Related: DIY Miso Soup