THE RECIPE
BLISTERED GREEN BEAN TACOS WITH TOMATO PICO & TOASTED ALMONDS
I had a taco stuffed with sautéed green beans several years ago in a tiny Mexican restaurant in Barcelona. It felt like such a simple idea – to stuff a warm tortilla with an ingredient that for me is so quintessentially British. Runner beans, griddled flat beans or sugar snaps will all taste good. Serve with tomato pico, crumbled feta and sliced avocado.
Serves 4
75g flaked (slivered) almonds
500g green beans, topped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3 tbsp capers (the bigger the better) 12 small corn or flour tortillas sea salt
METHOD
1. Put your largest frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat and when hot, toast the almonds, shaking the pan until they are mostly a lighter shade of caramel.
Put aside to cool.
2. Turn the heat up under the pan and add the beans in two batches. Sauté each batch for 4-5 minutes until they are a little blackened all over and starting to blister. Season with sea salt and remove from the pan into a warm bowl. Now pour in the olive oil and add the garlic and drained capers (watch for spitting if they are still a little wet). Cook for a couple of minutes or so until the garlic is golden and empty onto the beans.
3. Warm the tortillas in a pan, over a flame or in the microwave, and wrap in a dish towel to keep hot.
4. Pile the beans with garlic and capers into the tortillas, spooning over heaped spoonfuls of the tomato salsa (below). Sprinkle with the almonds and crumbled feta, and avocado if using, then munch with gusto.
FRESH TOMATO PICO
This salsa, the classic pico de gallo, is fresh, citrussy and delicious, especially when made with great tomatoes. Not only does it look good sprinkled over dishes, glistening with the oil and lime, but it adds sparkling acidity to anything you ladle it onto. Make it all summer when tomatoes are blooming, or with those wonderful winter varieties, keeping them outside the fridge to maintain their sweet, delicate flavour.
Makes
A large bowl
6 very ripe plum or cherry tomatoes small handful of coriander (cilantro) 1 small red onion, very finely diced
1-2 green chillies, preferably jalapeños, finely chopped
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil juice of 1-2 limes
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp soft brown sugar salt & pepper
METHOD
1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and scoop out the watery insides (you can use them in a vinaigrette or in a soup). Dice the flesh.
2. Roughly chop the coriander leaves and finely chop the stalks and stir into the tomatoes with the onion, chillies, oil, half the lime juice, the salt and sugar. Check the flavour and add more salt, pepper or lime juice if you think the salsa needs it. Leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes before you are ready to eat.
Thomasina Miers won the BBC’s MasterChef in 2005 and has since inspired a love for Mexican cuisine in the UK with her award-winning street food restaurant chain Wahaca, and eight recipe books. In 2019 she was awarded an OBE for services to the food industry