Fresh Green Beans in Olive Oil- The Virtue of Subtlety and a Lovely Lunch.

Personal taste aside, some foods have an inherent "wow" factor. Your family asks "What's for lunch?" and you say... ? "Ravioli" and it's "ooooh!"  "Fried shrimp" -"oooh!" "French onion soup (or really anything) au gratin" -"oooh!"

Put a splashy thing on the table at our house, and it's all we can talk about. We love our meals.

String beans with fresh tomatoes and herbs is not a splashy thing. Still, it keeps everyone at the table, long enough for seconds, talking- admittedly not about the lunch. Although every now and then someone does say "oh, these are really good today." That's the point- they please; they please very much in their discreet way.

For enough for lunch for 4 plus evening snack, we'll need:

1 1/2 kilos /3 pounds string beans

4 or 5 potatoes

a large onion

half a large bunch of parsley and half a large bunch of dill

6 or 7 tomatoes

half a wine glass of olive oil

salt and pepper

Prepare the string beans by snapping off each end and, unless you're absolutely sure it isn't necessary, removing the strings from the sides. I use a peeler to do this quickly, removing a lot but then I use the trimmings for stock, so there's no remorse.

An ample tangle of strings smells bright and fresh.
And the beans, cleaned and snapped in half 

Mince the onion or grate it on the large holes of the box grater, and put it into a pan with the warmed oil, then throw the beans over the top with a big pinch of salt. Cover a moment to give the onions a head start, then uncover and turn, the idea being to let the beans steam a little with the onions at first.

Green onions- happened to be on hand.

As soon as these begin to soften a bit, add the peeled potatoes cut into pieces:

Potatoes are faster to get tender than the beans-
so go ahead and  make the pieces comparatively large.

While this is steaming gently, pick the leaves of the parsley and the fronds of the dill- a big fat handful of each, wash them and mince them. Grate the tomatoes on the large holes of a box grater. When the green beans and potatoes soften a bit- after about ten minutes- add the tomatoes:

Cook a while longer, then when the vegetables are almost tender, add the herbs:

See how the green of the beans has faded to khaki? 
Adding the herbs toward the end of cooking keeps their fragrance lively.

We don't want the beans to fall apart, but we do want them plenty tender, yielding gently to the teeth. It's a delicate meal in the mouth. We have it quite hot when it's just done, but it's very nice cooled down too. A slice of feta and a heel of bread makes it a meal, and a glass of wine will make it an even better meal.