Crispy Baked Green Beans with Parmesan Crumbs

Green beans have a funny history for a vegetable most of us grew up thinking of as plain. The bean itself is the young, unripe pod of the common bean plant, picked before the seeds inside swell. That's why the pods snap when they're fresh and go limp when they've been sitting in the crisper too long. If you buy them loose, bend one before you commit. A good bean bends a little and then snaps cleanly. A tired one just folds.

The part of this recipe I'd hold onto is the order of operations. Blanching or steaming the beans first keeps them tender-crisp, so they don't have to spend the whole oven time getting soft. The crumbs go in the pan separately. Toasting the bread crumbs in olive oil before they ever meet the beans gives them a nutty color and a little more crunch, and it means the baking step is really just a finish, not a cook. Ten minutes in a hot oven is enough to set the topping. Pull the tray when the crumbs look like sand at the beach, golden and dry, and not a second later, since the Parmesan can scorch.

I like to use the leftovers the next day in a grain bowl with a spoonful of plain yogurt and a squeeze of lemon. The crumbs will soften a bit, but they still taste good cold. If you're storing them, keep the beans in an airtight container in the fridge and re-crisp them in a dry skillet or a hot oven rather than the microwave, which makes everything limp.

For serving, this sits well next to anything roasted or grilled. A piece of baked fish, a sheet pan of chicken thighs, or a pile of white beans with a drizzle of good oil all work. If you want the meal to feel like a real supper, a bowl of brothy soup alongside is nice, especially in cooler months. Here are a few places I'd go next:

• For a bigger plate, try Skillet Pesto Chicken Over Whole Grain Spaghetti so the beans sit beside something saucy.
• If you want more Parmesan on the table, Golden Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts follows the same flavors.
• For a lighter pasta night, Penne with Kale Walnut Pesto pairs well with the green beans on the side.