green beans | The Spamwise Chronicles

Green Beans Braised in Tomato Sauce

July 26, 2014 by Stan Santos

On Facebook, someone mentioned how the style of my cooking so often can be tracked to old-time Italian country cooking. At the time the recession of 2008 hit, I started to eat less meat because of how much it cost. At the same time, I also made a change in how I cooked. Practically everything I make follows a strictly seasonal pattern since I buy produce from my farmers’ market all year round. Another reason is that shortly after I […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, photography, recipe, summer, vegan • Tags: cooking, food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, Mark Bittman, recession, summer, tomatoes, vegan

Green Beans and Cauliflower, Stewed in Tomato Sauce

August 14, 2013 by Stan Santos

I love the combination of green beans and cauliflower braised in tomato sauce. The usual combination is fagiolini in umido (“green beans, stewed in tomato sauce”); the addition of cauliflower gilds the lily, in my opinion. There are variations where the sauce is fairly thin and brothy, the better to sop up with hunks of bread. My version is a bit heftier; it begins with a soffritto of celery, carrot, onion and celery leaves, to which crushed tomatoes and herbs […]

Categories: food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, recipe, summer, vegan, vegetarian • Tags: cauliflower, food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, side dish, summer, vegan, vegetarian

Fagiulini Spilusieddi

August 13, 2013 by Stan Santos

Behold the humble green bean, a vegetable that most people don’t give its due. It’s fast becoming one of my favorite summer vegetables, even more than tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. It’s featured in so many different dishes, from contorni such as “fagiolini alla Genovese” (green beans in the style of Genova) to main dishes such as “stufato di verdure” (vegetable stew). Long, slow-cooking, is what you need to get the best out of a green bean when it comes to […]

Categories: food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, recipe, summer, vegan, vegetarian • Tags: food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, onion, side dish, summer, vegan, vegetarian

Stufato Snapshot

July 11, 2013 by Stan Santos

Stufato di Verdure But what is it, you ask? Well, it’s typically vegetables that have been stewed in little more than olive oil and a tiny bit of water, along with one or two flavorings such as herbs, garlic, anchovies, olives, pancetta or wine vinegar over low heat for over an hour. In the process, they lose their crispness and become luscious and silken, and their flavors concentrate until each spoonful is literally the essence of summer. Stufato di verdure, […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, summer • Tags: food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, summer, tomatoes, zucchini

Sunday Snapshot

August 26, 2012 by Stan Santos

Green beans and potatoes complement each other deliciously. This makes a simple vegetable side dish, or with the addition of perhaps eggs and cheese, can easily stand in for a substantial vegetarian breakfast or lunch. Fagiolini e patate — otherwise known as ‘green beans and potatoes’ in Italian.

Categories: food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, summer, vegan • Tags: food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, potatoes, summer, vegan

Fagiolini al Pomodoro

August 12, 2012 by Stan Santos

One of the simplest of vegetable sides — of which there are so many to choose from in Italian cuisine! — is fagiolini al pomodoro, otherwise known as ‘green beans and tomato’. When your vegetables are at the peak of ripeness, this dish truly shines. There is little better than the combination of sweet, ripe tomatoes and crisp green beans, accented with a touch of garlic and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. It’s like a marriage made in heaven. Fagiolini […]

Categories: food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, recipe, summer, vegan, Weekend Herb Blogging • Tags: food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, summer, tomato, vegan, Weekend Herb Blogging

Stufato di Verdure

June 8, 2012 by Stan Santos

Summer is when I temporarily become a part-time vegetarian. There are so many tasty vegetables that are suddenly available at our Greenmarkets that it almost seems a crime to not take advantage of them while I can. It’s a wonderful profusion that challenges my creativity – how to design a meal that will satiate and satisfy while being nutritious, while at the same time, never having the same thing twice. This is not to say that I stop eating meat […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, summer, vegan, Weekend Herb Blogging • Tags: dinner, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, summer, tomatoes, vegan, Weekend Herb Blogging, zucchini

Vegan Snapshot

April 12, 2012 by Stan Santos

Green bean and kale bihari masala, basmati brown rice Adapted from this Diner’s Journal entry at The New York Times. I make this quite often in the summer and autumn. It’s extraordinarily delicious with other vegetables such as cauliflower, pumpkin and eggplant. The version pictured above includes fabulous wintered-over kale from Lani’s Farm in Bordentown, New Jersey, in addition to the green beans. Note: If you have an Indian pantry, you can substitute equivalent spices instead of the listed ingredients. […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Indian food, spring, vegan, vegetarian • Tags: dinner, food photography, gluten-free, green beans, kale, New York Times

Poached Wild Striped Bass, Tarragon Butter Sauce and Spring Vegetables

March 28, 2012 by Stan Santos

You’d think that someone who’s had lots of experience poaching eggs and featuring them on this here food blog thingy would be able to make a logical leap to poached chicken or fish. Apparently not. That being said, there’s always a first time for everything. Poaching is such a wonderfully easy and uncomplicated method for cooking fish. It helps to preserve moisture and adds depth of flavor without contributing much in the way of fat, although you may find it […]

Categories: American cuisine, cooking, food, food photography, general, recipe, spring • Tags: carrots, cooking, dinner, fish, food photography, gluten-free, green beans, onion, recipe, wild striped bass

The Spamwise Chronicles

A blog devoted to the beauty of food.

Tag: green beans