There are people who just don’t care for fancy side dishes during holidays. In fact, the Netherlands is—in spite of what you might think—a very conservative country where the motto is “Just act normal, that’s crazy enough“. For some people that also applies to food and it rings especially true for Dutch people. Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t mean you can’t spruce up a side dish that’s made with simple and honest ingredients a little, does it?

Ingredients:

1 pound green beans
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
white beans
5 small tomatoes (or 2 large ones)
1 cup vegetable broth
splash of balsamic vinegar
1/2 a tsp dried basil
1/2 a tsp salt
pepper
2 tbsp oil



Directions:

1 pound fresh green beans. Trim the ends and snap ‘em. They’re not called snap beans for nothing!

I used about 5 small roma tomatoes, you can use 2 large ones as well. The skin comes off easily if you cut a shallow x at the bottom, dump them in boiling water for 20 seconds followed by a cold water bath.

Give the tomatoes a rough chop.

Finely chop an onion.

 Tip: you could also add 1/2 a finely chopped bell pepper for even more flavor.

Grate or mince the garlic.

Heat the oil and sautee the onions for about 5 minutes before adding the garlic. Cook for an additional minute.

Stir in the green beans.

Pour in the broth and add a splash of balsamic vinegar. Not too much, 2 to max 3 tbsp. Season with basil and salt, this depends on how salty your broth is to begin with of course.

Bring to a boil and simmer, without the lid on, for 15 to 20 minutes. I like my beans to still have a bite to them.

While the green beans are simmering it’s time to drain the white beans.

The liquid will be goners after 20 minutes. Crank up the heat and ‘stir-fry’ the beans for a few minutes so they will caramelize a little. Add the white beans, tomato pieces and season with a generous amount of black pepper. Lower the heat and let the vegetables simmer for another 5 minutes.

I like to sprinkle some chopped pistachios, pinenuts, almonds, walnuts or even cashews on top. It provides a little crunch and loads of extra flavor. This is a really simple but great tasting side dish.