Pomelo Green Beans Recipe
A one-pan green bean side with a walnut-garlic dressing and highlighted with pomelo segments. Transform it into an easy main with the addition of some seared tofu or a poached egg.
This time last month I was setting off on a journey that started with me flying through Charles de Gaulle airport to Marrakech where we spent the better part of the week in the historic medina. There was a train ride from there to Fez, where we stayed in the restored residence of a 17th century imam, and wandered guide-less through the medina's thousands of intricate alleyways eating beghrir and msemmen. I loved seeing the historic madrassas in both cities, and did my best to finish each day sitting atop one of the many high terraces, letting my eyes hopscotch across the rooftops. There were ancient dead-ending alleyways, communal cab rides, orange blossom dreams, and much bad French spoken (on my part). We made our way back through Paris, before hopping the long flight home to San Francisco with an extra suitcase and the snotty remnants of a nasty cold. Three weeks out of a small suitcase, and as much as I love to explore far-away cities, it is, indeed, nice to be home.
The farmers' market was completely transformed by the time I got back. Bursting with persimmons, pomelos, pomegranates, radicchio, bag-busting squash, and citron - it was a brilliant homecoming. I piled haricot vert green beans into my bag along with a huge green Chandler pomelo, then made this little number as part of our lunch. It's a one-pot side where I soften garlic in the water set to boil the green beans. You work the garlic into a dressing with a few walnuts while the beans have a quick boil, and toss it all together with pomelo (or citrus segments). You can serve it like this, as a side, or add some seared tofu or a poached egg to make a meal of it - which is what we ended up doing with the leftovers.
Tell me, what are you all planning to cook for Thanksgiving? I'd love it if you'd post some links or descriptions. I'll try to wrangle some as well. I'm not entirely sure what I'm cooking yet, but I think I might do something savory with quince/preserved lemons, my mom typically does the stuffing/dressing, but I keep thinking a citron-accented version would be nice. Persimmon salad of some sort? xo -h
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Pomelo Green Beans
6 medium cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup toasted walnut halves
scant 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh herbs (oregano, chives, etc)
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound green beans (or hericot vert), trimmed
1 cup of pomelo or orange segments
1 small head of radicchio, finely shredded
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt well, and cook the garlic cloves for ten minutes. Remove with a strainer or slotted spoon and transfer to a mortar and pestle. Mash along with 5 of the walnut halves, the salt, and herbs into a paste. Gradually add the olive oil until the consistency is to your liking. Taste and adjust with more salt, if needed.
Cook the green beans in the boiling water until they are bright, just a minute or so. You want them a bit tender, but still with a good amount of structure. Drain, and transfer to a serving bowl. Toss well with the garlic-walnut dressing, then add the pomelo, radicchio, and remaining walnuts. Give a quick toss, and serve.
For a one-dish meal, add some sautéed tofu or a poached egg.
Serves 4.
Prep time: 5 minutes - Cook time: 8 minutes
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I made this for Thanksgiving, subbing grapefruit because pomelo wasn’t readily available in suburban Chicago, and pepitas to accommodate a severe nut allergy. It was a huge hit. Bright, tart, tangy and wonderful counterpoint to the starchy meal.
Lovely Heidi. I recently got back from Rabat, Morocco. I ‘d love to visit Marrakech and Fez one day. Thanksgiving has evolved some for us over the years. This year there’s talk of a cauliflower mash and my lentil and rice dish might make an appearance too: http://www.bottomofthepot.com/2013/11/a-thanksgiving-offering-rice-and-lentil.html
But I think I’ll have to make room for this pomelo green beans dish. Our girls love grapefruit and green beans. Thank you and a very happy Thanksgiving.
Having pretty much done the trip you describe, you’ve just reminded me how privileged I felt to have been able to do it- I often felt transported back to medieval times and yes, our modest accommodation also had that all-important roof for day’s end.
Am trying this recipe tonight, but thought maybe to candy the walnuts first.
As far as the pickled lemons/bergamots are concerned, Ottolenghi does a thing with those and harissa that has some good veg potential (but I’d stay off the tinned stuff and knock up your own in a grinder).
When I bought my first pomelo, I though that it was a bad one as it had “so much skin around the actual fruit”. Now that I see that it is supposed to be like that I might give this fruit another try, especially with this recipe which looks amazing.
Really love your recipes! Your soups are amazing (love making ones with lentils)!
any nice antique/thrift finds in morocco? i’d be super curious to just take a peek at that extra suitcase. might be heading out there next year. welcome back!
HS: A few Maya! They might make an appearance at some point!
Well I love green beans and pomelo but have never put them together. This looks crisp, fresh and healthy – delicious.
I always make a baked stuffed pumpkin like the one in Dorie Greenpan’s Around My French Table. It is lovely open to variation and whims, and delicious.
Hi Heidi,
First of all, this salad looks SO good. I do have another question for you though. I have made many recipes from your site and all have been perfect and delicious, but tonight I tried your “miso sesame winter squash” and for some reason ended up with *globs* of molasses-y sauce covering every inch of the squash and tofu. No one else seems to have the problem, and I *triple* checked that I indeed added the exact correct amounts of all of the ingredients, and I didn’t mess up. How could this be? Did I just need to keep roasting it even more after 30 minutes? Thanks so much for any insight, I was so excited for the recipe then was sad.
HS: Sorry to hear that Allie – my guess is that perhaps you needed to keep going for longer (as you suggested). Also, is there a chance your oven is running on the cool side? If you were going to troubleshoot for a second go-around, perhaps toss with half the amount of dressing and see if you have a better result with your oven, and then bake as long as it takes…It’s super tasty, I’d definitely be game to help you solve the issue!
Heidi,
I am a constant reader of your books and blog. I recently took a trip to Wyoming and in a distant favorite’s list you mentioned Heart Mountain, Wyoming. It stayed with me for quite sometime. I visited and it was an amazing sojourn. Thank you for mentioning it as I was unaware of this part of our American History.
I thoroughly enjoy your favorite lists, and they introduce me to new and fantastic things- as well as your wonderful recipes. I do have a question though, and I’d like to get your thoughts on the subject. Do you shop in stores that give sales on produce/some of the essentials in your recipes? I do find that some of your recipes are expensive to make, and I’m interested in how you balance the cost.
Thank you again.
HS: Love hearing you visited Wyoming, and thanks for the nice words about the favorites lists. I love compiling them! Let me know which ingredients in particular you’re finding spendy. I generally feel that with the exception of a few wildcards the basics of much of my cooking are pretty accessible – pulses, grains, beans, vegs, eggs, etc. But happy to brainstorm if I’m off the mark. In this recipe, the walnuts might be the priciest component…
We are super traditional at Thanksgiving but for the last couple of years we’ve added in Barefoot Contessa’s Celery & Parmesan Salad with the addition of a thinly shaved fennel bulb and a bed of arugula. Its bright flavors are the perfect thing to cut through all those other rich and heavy favorites.
Sounds like an amazing adventure! The sound of those old streets is enchanting, hope you’ll share pictures.
I also love the bowl!
For thanksgiving I always try to make a vegetarian main dish– I love to make something that can stand in for turkey. For the first time ever I have my favorite TG meal up on my blog in time for the holiday! I hope you can check it out!
Pomelo is not as popular here in the East coast as grapefruit, though I’ve seen them at Korean stores but a good substitute is sweet Cara Cara orange, now in season. Love this dish, a good sub for the old Green Bean Casserole. jean @ thechewinn-nova.com
“…letting my eyes hopscotch across the rooftops.”
Brilliant… love your way with words. I have fond memories of Marrakech, nice to be transported back.
I really love your serving dish – you always have the best presentations. Just wondering where you find such nice pieces. Thanks
HS: Thanks Pauline! I pick them up here and there – mostly at flea markets and antique shops. I just always try to keep my eyes open 🙂
Some fabulous recipes here, am re-thinking my menu right this minute! And Heidi, I have to tell you how much I love your Delicata/miso/harissa salad. Over and over, as soon as I find Delicata in the market….Happiest of hol’s to all of you!
You too Tota!
I live in Thailand and this looks like a perfect dish to make next week! Happy Thanksgiving!
This looks great, Heidi. Thank you so much. I’m inspired by the walnut dressing. Regarding persimmons, I like your idea of a salad, as I’ve been hoarding them ever since they’ve popped up in my local market. I typically do a pasty of sorts, however incorporating a savory element might be nice.
I really enjoy your blog; thanks.
-Jennifer
YUM! I love green beans any way you cook them 🙂 Here is a link to my Thanksgiving -http://annsangelfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Thanksgiving. I do stuffing made of croissants, bacon, brandied fruit, and rosemary. Your preserved lemons sound awesome!
I’m definitely making this for Thanksgiving this year! I love your combination of these flavors. Can’t wait to try!
Green beans are a favourite in my kitchen. That pomelo is amazing, I’ve not seen one with quite as thick a skin!
Beautiful coloured salad, perfect for an Australian Spring lunch.
Mmm this looks awesome!
One Thanksgiving thing: Pomegranate seeds, cranberries chopped in a cuisinart, lots of very thinly sliced and seeded kumquats and lots of finely diced candied ginger is my Thanksgiving relish. No sweetener needed if you make it a day or two ahead. The ginger does the magic there. If you can’t find kumquots yet, an orange in the cuisinart, peel and all will do. It’s also great without the pomegranates if you have those who don’t want seeds to chew on.
This green bean salad actually sounds like a great option for a much-needed fresh and light Thanksgiving side. We don’t have very many American friends where we are living so I don’t think we’ll be celebrating a traditional Thanksgiving! However, I recently made this wild rice platter with 5-spice roasted delicata and sweet tahini sauce that would be great for such an occasion! 🙂 http://wholenourishment.blogspot.ch/2013/11/wild-rice-with-roasted-delicata-squash.html
This is on our Thanksgiving menu > Super simple. Super delicious. Wedges of Amagaki Persimmons from Twin Peaks Orchards in Newcastle tossed with Gwen Avocados, jalapenos and cilantro pesto.
For Thanksgiving I will be bringing a roasted Brussels sprouts and red seedless grapes with a pomegranate glaze dish to an intimate dinner of 30 people. I made it last night for our book club. Everyone raved and unfortunately, for me there were no leftovers. The full recipe can be found at http://cooksbybooks.com/roasted-brussels-sprouts-and-grapes-with-a-pomegranate-glaze/#more-704
A Happy Thanksgiving to you, Heidi and Everyone reading your blog.
Fantastic dish.
I tried it without the citrus part and scrambled the haricot vert mixture with 2 eggs (not to much cooking)! Great results!
Persimmons, you say?! I found a delicious recipe several years ago on the LA Times website and it never fails to surprise and impress.
Here’s the link:
http://tinyurl.com/mes3yfh
Mmmm… love the pairing of green beans + citrus. A nice way to travel them through this next season…
We’ve been enjoying all manner of persimmon salads, my favorite probably being this: thinly shaved (think mandoline) fennel + apple + slivered fuyus + chopped toasted hazelnuts, dressed in a bright lemon-heavy vinaigrette. i could see mint or tarragon, but have yet to try either. pomegranate sometimes butts in. i like those times best of all.
welcome home.
xo,
molly
Thanksgiving will be:
A spatchcocked, herb-infused turkey: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/66597843666/butterflied-big-bird-spatchcocked-turkey
Savory cornbread stuffing: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/well/vegetarian-recipes/?ref=dining&smid=tw-nytdining#recipe/savory-cornbread-stuffing/cornbread
Green beans with lemon and caper: http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/Piccata-Stlye-Green-Beans
With my mom’s cranberry sauce, roasted acorn squash, and finished with Jennifer Perillo’s wonderful brown butter apple pie: http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2010/11/brown-butter-apple-pie-recipe/
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Beautiful photos. I’ve never used that fruit before, it looks like a lot of pith to go through to get to the fruit, but I’m liking the idea of citrus with green beans.
delicious idea to combine pomelo with green beans! the dressings sounds great too! For Thanksgiving, I make a salad a layered salad on a platter of red leaf lettuce with slices of Fuyu persimmon, avocado, white grapefruit (will try it w:pomelo), and a garnish of pomegranate seeds. I make a family favorite recipe of celery seed dressing to drizzle on top.
My boyfriend will love you for this. He’s always trying to get me to make green beans…
On another note, one vendor in SF was trying to get me to buy bottleneck grapefruit, he said people cook with it. It turns out to be pomelo. Have you tried any cooked pomelo?
It’s funny how quickly the seasons change, isn’t it? I am Canadian so we have already had Thanksgiving here but I am planning ahead to Christmas dinner! There is some sort of chocolatey/gingerbready dessert in the works!
Yum! Garlic-toasted walnut + green beans = divine.
The other night I made mini butternut/feta hand pies in half-spelt dough, adapted from Sarah @ Sprouted Kitchen. They were so good I’m thinking of it again for T-gives possibly.
I’ve been teaching and enjoying a dish that I think I adapted from one of the delicata squash links you posted a while back. I’ve adapted the Maple Spice Delicata and Kale dish to use sweet potatoes and I add a good amount of lime juice along with them minced red onion at the end. It is so, so good–the lime juice really brings it together for me and balances the sweetness. I’ll be making that for Thanksgiving for sure. Thank Heidi, as always for all your fabulous work and inspiration.
Ah, can’t wait to make this! I finally bought a mortar and pestle the other day (in your honor) and can’t wait to use it!!
Thanks for the always delicious and healthy inspiration.
The pomelos we get in Florida have a yellow skin and have much for edible, lighter colored flesh than the one you pictured.
HS: Hi Kristen, the pomelos here are also, often, yellow. But, it’s my understanding that with pomelos, skin color isn’t a good indicator of ripeness. The flavor of this one was a nice combination of tart, a good amount of sweet, and brightness. So it came home with me.
So beautiful! I love green beans at this time of year.
We’re actually skipping thanksgiving completely and going camping, I think there are going to be a lot of fire-baked potatoes involved.
Every year I make cranberry-orange bread from an old southern living cookbook of my mom’s. It’s not the holidays until i’ve had it!
As a European, I do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but I have this bitter-sweet radicchio-endive-persimmon salad in my repertoire ( http://www.growntocook.com/?p=268 ) that would be perfect. We started harvesting radichio from our fall veg garden this week, so it’s a very seasonal salad for us right now 🙂
Looks delicious. Have a fantastic thanks giving!
love the pictures! looks so delicious!
I was thinking of making Ottolenghi’s Portobello Mushrooms with Pearled Barley and Preserved Lemon. It’s a recipe full of flavors and depth, and very comforting too.
Have you ever tried it?
HS: I haven’t Mike, but, no doubt it’s delicious!
Interesting use of pomelo here – really gives the dish elegance, I think!
I love that you paired a pomelo with green beans. Great thinking to spice things up to green beans! It’s been way too long since I’ve had a pomelo…must change that!
That sounds like a wonderful experience. I am in Southern hemispheres I might not have to same in season produce as you do but definitely I have some of those seasonal fruits and veggies.
That salad is such a nice way to use pomelo; we normally just eat it as it is like a grape fruit.
I bought my first pomelo this week! It was so beautiful I just had to have it even though I wasn’t sure how I was going to use it…thanks for helping. I received my BEAUTIFUL Ambatalia Linen Covers from QUITOKEETO today…as usual the package itself was a gift, but it was so much fun using them in my dinner prep this evening {BTW…your Heirloom Apple Salad was on tonight’s menu & that dressing is addictive!}
Still not sure about Thanksgiving but there is a Shaved Brussels Sprouts + Persimmon Salad that I am thinking about…chock full of pumpkin + sunflower seeds with a shallot, lime, cumin dressing that I am so craving right now. Happy Holidays + Many Thanks for another year of goodies!
HS: Love hearing it Kristin! Thanks for the note. The covers are one of my favorite things, Molly puts a lot of love into those. And the salad sounds amazing. I love lime and squash, and seeds – sounds like a winner. xo -h
Like an archaeological mission to find the hidden fruit! Looks like a delicious dish.
Delicious and beautiful all wrapped in one.
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