Shredded Green Beans with Lemon-Lime Zest and Snipped Chives

You know that sore muscle feeling that you get the day after a really intense workout?  That was my day today.  Walking up stairs... painful.  Sitting down in a chair...more pain.  Getting out of the chair to go to the bathroom?  Not worth it; I can hold it.

With the recent sunshine I've been biking to work regularly and continuing my interval-training classes at my gym.  Apparently my muscles think this is a big mistake.  If you see me with ice packs strapped to my legs tomorrow don't be alarmed.

One of the good things about working out a lot is that when you get home all you want to do is eat vegetables. 

Okay, that's a bit of a lie.  It totally makes you want to eat samoa cookies.  But, I somehow managed to find the willpower to make these delicious green beans instead. 
    
This recipe comes from Heidi Swanson's cookbook Super Natural Cooking and I'm can't wait to get my hands on her new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.  Heidi is the author of the beautiful blog 101 Cookbooks and is great at creating both healthy and enticing dishes. These green beans are perfect for some quick post-workout fuel.

This recipe comes together easily in under 10 minutes, especially if using a food processor to shred the beans.  She recommends shredding them into very tiny pieces, but I made mine a bit bigger.  Yellow beans would also be a nice addition for color contrast and, if you happen to have some, I really like garnishing this with some chive blossoms.  

Speaking of chive blossoms, if you happen to be growing some chives of your own at the moment I totally recommend letting them go to flower.  Just by the good fortune of me being a lazy gardener I got the chance to experience these adorable and completely edible little buds.  Apparently procrastination pays off.  Who knew?

Shredded Green Beans with Lemon-Lime Zest and Snipped Chives
Serves 4. 
From Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking

3/4 pound green and/or yellow beans, tops and tails trimmed
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons water
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
Grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Slice the beans on a diagonal into roughly 1/8-inch pieces.  If you are using a food processor, do them a handful at a time.  Either way the result should be tiny, angular zeros.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the beans and stir until coated with oil, then add the water.  Cover and cook 2 or 3 minutes, until the beans are brightly colored and tender; give the pan a good shake midway through to ensure even cooking.  Remove from the heat and stir in the zests and half the chives.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with the remaining chives.