Healthy Steamed Green Bean Recipes

Steaming (but not for too long!) is a foolproof way to get perfect, crisp-tender green beans, every time. This easy recipe is a great starting point for other flavors or preparations, like adding cooked green beans to a salad.

Channel your inner food stylist while arranging the beans and vegetables for this show-stopping composed bean salad recipe. Serve at a potluck or for a beautiful salad at brunch alongside grilled chicken, scallops or fish.

In this easy green bean recipe, browning the butter before tossing it with the breadcrumbs produces a nice nutty flavor. Serve this green bean dish as a healthy alternative to green bean casserole or as an easy side with steak, chicken or fish.

This lemon and dill vinaigrette is a natural complement to green beans. It's also great tossed with steamed asparagus or drizzled over sliced fresh tomatoes. To make this recipe serve 10, multiply all the ingredients by 2 1/2: Use 2 1/2 pounds green beans, 3 tablespoons dill, 2 1/2 tablespoons each shallot, oil and lemon juice, 2 1/2 teaspoons mustard and 3/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Thin green beans cook quickly, so rinsing them with cold water (or putting them into an ice water bath) is important if you want to keep them crisp. The beans in this side dish recipe take only 20 minutes to prepare, but taste their best after a couple hours in the fridge where they soak up the flavor of the shallot-thyme mixture.

This colorful salad makes a fine prelude to a hearty dinner. Walnut oil's distinctive flavor delivers a rich hit to the dressing.

Briny feta, tangy buttermilk and fresh herbs combine in a yummy dressing for steamed green beans in this healthy side dish recipe. Serve with grilled chicken, pork or steak for an easy dinner.

In this healthy potato salad recipe, a white-wine vinaigrette dresses the potatoes, green beans, blue cheese and bacon. Waxy potatoes, such as red and yellow, make the best potato salad because they hold their shape when cooked. Keep the potato skins on for more fiber and potassium.

Toasted nuts and fresh orange zest adorn these versatile green beans. Toast the nuts while you steam the beans and you have a polished addition to any meal ready in 15 minutes flat. Double it: Steam the green beans in a Dutch oven instead of a saucepan.

Inspired by a Lebanese pasta dish, we toss steamed green beans with garlicky yogurt for an easy side dish. Try it with roast lamb.

This slightly sweet, slightly sour green bean recipe takes just a few minutes to make and is great served at room temperature. Make it ahead and let the green beans bathe in the dressing, soaking up flavor.

When shopping for green beans, select ones that are bright green with no bruises, bulges or brown spots.