Green Beans with Mustard Seeds

I remember the first time I went to England and was shopping for my first kitchen utensils and gadgets, there was one thing I couldn’t find anywhere. A bean slicer! They might have been available but I couldn’t find any close to where I used to live. I thought it was quite a basic kitchen tool. But there you go, they were apparently not very popular in England. So, from one of my holidays to Mauritius, I took one back with me.

Sliced beans just taste so much better from whole ones! Sliced beans are also great eaten raw in salads.

For today, I sautéed them in a bit of olive oil and mustard seeds. This is so quick and easy. And so tasty too!

Ingredients (4 servings)

250 g green beans
1 red onion sliced
2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste

• Cut ends of beans and slice using a bean slicer. (Discard the strings that will come off).
• In a non-stick deep pan on medium, add the olive oil.
• Add onions and mustard seeds. Sauté for 1 minute.
• Add green beans and stir to thoroughly mix oil with beans.
• Cover and cook on low to medium heat until beans are tender. (You don’t want to cook them to death as they will lose flavour. I usually just cook them halfway through. Switch off heat. Cover and let stand for a while. The steam will cook the beans slightly more leaving them still crisp.)
• Add salt to taste. (Do not add salt while cooking as this will cause a lot of water to come out of the beans making them soft and soggy).