South Indian-Style Green Beans

Simple & Tasty Green Beans

The other night I made some Indian scallops and they turned out wonderful!  I paired them with some raita {aka super tasty yogurt} and these green beans!  These are one of my mom's favorites, and they were very quick to make.  Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables, so I love trying out different variations.  These ones have a nice flavor, mainly from the mustard seeds and cayenne pepper.  

Ingredients:

1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into about 1 inch lengths
3 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole brown or yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

{serves 4}

How to:

• Bring 8 cups of water to a boil.  Add 1 tablespoon salt to it and then cut the beans.  Boil for 4-5 minutes or until the beans are just tender.  Drain immediately and leave in the colander.  These can be prepared early, and just place them in cold water to help them hold their vibrant green!
• Pour the oil into a frying pan and set over medium-high heat.  Once hot, put in the cumin, mustard seeds, and sesame seeds.  As soon as the seeds start popping {only a matter of seconds} take the pan off the heat and stir in the beans.  Place the pan back on the stove, turning the heat down to medium low.  Stir to mix for about a minute, adding 1/2 teaspoon salt and the cayenne.  Remove the pan from the heat.  

My boyfriend, Lars, came over and got to try out my cooking!  He was super cute and read to my little sister, Nora, while I worked to put finishing touches on the green beans and scallops.  

Let me know what you think if you decide to try these out!  We did 1.5 times the recipe to feed our larger group.

P.S. Any thoughts on Crazy, Stupid, Love? Watched it for the third time last night; the part where he's fixing the lawn gets me every time! 

xo