These Crispy Green Beans Are Helping Me Fight Mushy Food Fatigue This Thanksgiving

When I was a kid, I couldn’t understand the hype surrounding Thanksgiving. In my eyes, the traditional Thanksgiving table was nothing more than a lineup of mushy foods that had been cooked too long and infused with the same flavors: rosemary, sage, thyme. My American father was in charge of this annual holiday feast, and he took pride in creating the perfect Thanksgiving menu. But I was used to my mother’s Filipino cooking, and I missed her sour, acidic flavors.

Of course, that was before I moved across the country. Now that I haven’t had my father’s Thanksgiving foods in nearly a decade, I miss them. That is, except for one: those soft, limp, overcooked green beans.

So this year, I’m cooking a mostly traditional Thanksgiving dinner. But I’m putting Anna Stockwell’s Smashed Green Bean Salad with Crispy Shallots on the table.

Anna’s smashed green beans differ from the soft, limp green beans I’ve eaten on far too many holidays. They’re bright, pungent, raw, and—crucially—crisp. That last part is thanks to Anna’s simple no-cook technique.

I know what you’re thinking: Don’t I have to cook green beans in order to actually chew them? The answer is no. While cooking will break down a bean’s stringy membranes, so will smashing the beans with a rolling pin.

Which is exactly what Anna does. She puts trimmed green beans in a resealable plastic bag, grabs her stylish French rolling pin, and pounds the beans with vigor. “It basically splits them in half and makes the beans permeable,” she says. “This allows them to really soak up the marinade.”

As tempting as it may be, you don’t want to pulverize the beans; you just want to hit them hard enough that they split. Then it’s time to toss the beans in a tangy citrus dressing that’s loaded with all those flavors I missed at my childhood Thanksgivings: citrus, chilies, fish sauce.

Anna’s recipe calls for marinating the beans for at least one hour, or overnight so they can fully absorb the spiky, sweet-tart flavors in the dressing. Don't worry—even after sitting in the dressing for a few hours, the green beans will still be crisp. Still, when the goal is to combat mush fatigue, it pays to be diligent. So Anna has you toss the beans with peanuts and top them with crunchy fried shallots—a double dose of crispiness that even the most traditional Thanksgiving eater can get down with.

Smashed Green Bean Salad With Crispy Shallots

Originally Appeared on Epicurious