Ingredients

　　

Bland

Step 1

If you fear in advance that the beans will be bland, put a pinch of sugar in your cooking water. Once they’re cooked, you can pep them up with some dill weed or basil. Tossing them with some fat (butter or a nicely flavored oil) and some toasted sesame seeds or toasted slivered almonds is nice and makes them fancy looking, too.

　　

Losing color

Step 2

If your beans’ color is starting to fade as they simmer, either they’re overcooking, in which case you should drain them right away and plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking, or there’s lemon juice or vinegar in the water, in which case you should add a pinch of baking soda to balance the acidity.

　　

Not enough

Step 3

Luckily, beans go with so many other vegetables that unless your cupboard is completely bare, you should be able to find something to mix with them. Peas, lima beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, red bell pepper, and zucchini will all work. A combination of two or three will look and taste particularly good—as if you meant to do it!

　　

Overcooked

Step 4

Overcooked green beans can be made into a soup by puréeing them with broth. You can add cooked carrots or potatoes first if you like. You can add cream. You can even add some basil, thyme, or dill.

　　

Step 5

Or, if you have the ingredients for it, we recommend turning your overcooked green beans into the classic green bean casserole (which, in our experience, always features some pretty soft beans anyway). Sure, it’s retro, but holidays are a time for tradition. Mix your green beans with cream of mushroom soup, top with French fried onions (if you don’t have a can, just sauté some fresh onions), then bake at 350°F until hot, 20 minutes or so.

　　How to Repair Food, Third Edition