Green Beans with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

When we were in Chicago last month, we were fortunate enough to eat at Stephanie Izard’s Girl and the Goat.

I pulled this photo from Izard's site. This is the interior of her restaurant. I absolutely love this picture. It reminds me of Helena Bonham Carter in a Tim Burton movie about a goat.

(See Eating  Through a Few Midwestern States for more info about our meal and the trip.)

I have since raved about her roasted cauliflower, chickpea fritters, sugo and the green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette.  I am waiting on fresh cauliflower from the farmers market before I try roasting some  and I finally found garbanzo bean flour at Whole Foods so I am set to try to make fritters.  But last week I bought some fresh green beans from a favorite vendor at the market and tried my hand at duplicating Izard’s “Sauteed Green Beans with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette.”

Here is what I came up with:

Steamed Green Beans with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

1/2 c. fish sauce
1/4 c. water
2 T. rice wine vinegar
3/4 c. lime juice
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. canola oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/4 t. red pepper flake
1-2 lbs. of steamed green beans

Place vinaigrette ingredients in a blender and pulse until emulsified.  Pour over green beans while beans are still warm.  Serve.  (This is also good served cold the next day.)

I garnished with a few halved cherry tomatoes.

It came out tasty but wasn’t quite like the original inspiration.  Izard’s vinaigrette had a creamier consistency and the beans were served with sliced almonds.   I am glad I wasn’t able to nail it perfectly, though.   This way I have a great excuse to go back and visit Girl and the Goat again to do more research!  🙂

 

 
Green Beans

7 comments to Green Beans with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

  • Liz

    We tried to get reservations at Girl and the Goat when we were in Chicago in May, but we would have had to eat at 4:30 or 10 PM! So lucky you getting to dine there. I’m glad you tried to recreate one of their dishes…so we can close our eyes and pretend we’re dining in a fabulous hot spot 🙂

    • Eliot

      I guess we did get lucky from what I hear. We just walked in, but we waited around 45 minutes, which I didn’t think was too bad.

  • Ann

    Looks amazing! I’m allergic to anything fish (and I love it)….maybe if I use a bit of soy….

  • Andrew

    I was just at Girl and the goat a week ago, the green beans were fantastic.
    I am eating my own version of her green beans right now! Her green beans are not steamed.

    I microwave the green beans for 3 minutes. Heat the oil in the pan as hot as it will get.Place green beans, cashew, shallots in pan. Blacken and finish the green beans in the sauce pan. (flimsy with a little crunch in them still). pour the simple lemon fish sauce on the beans.

    Green beans
    cashews
    shallots
    oil
    salt to taste

    Sauce
    cream
    butter
    lemon and lime

    • Eliot

      Wasn’t it great? I know hers aren’t steamed, but I like them that way. Thanks for the sauce tip.

  • Just came across your post. I used to live in Chicago and called (or had my husband call) The Girl and the Goat to ask about their green beans. They told me that the green beans have both a fish sauce vinaigrette and also aioli (that’s where the creaminess comes from).