Green Bean Sandwich Blasted As Something Served on the Menu 'in Hell'
A recipe for a green bean sandwich has sparked a furious debate online, as the ingredients divided opinion among foodies.
The fabled dish, and Joey Tribbiani's favorite food, comes in many forms with various fillings, but it seems one option has taken things too far for some. Chef Caroline Lange shared a recipe inspired by her childhood with Food52, which she called "Marinated Green Bean Sandwiches."
Lange shared the inspiration behind the pairing, saying on the website: "I grew up visiting the beaches of Westerly, Rhode Island—and on so many evenings, salty and sleepy, we'd drive over to Watch Hill for the sunset, the people-watching, and the ice cream cones.
"But we'd always stop for dinner at Fra's, an unassuming and extremely wonderful Italian deli. My order: the marinated green bean sandwich. When Fra's closed a few years back, I began craving the sandwich."
She added this version is "pretty close" to what she recalls, with the recipe calling for green beans, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, focaccia rolls and fresh mozzarella, along with seasoning.
The arrangement is fairly straightforward, with beans and garlic sautéed with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, before being tossed in the red wine vinegar. When you're hungry, preheat the oven and pop the bread in with the cheese on top. When warm, top with a row of beans, add another slice of bread and enjoy.
The recipe was uploaded to the site on Wednesday and shared to Instagram the day after, where it attracted thousands of comments. Alongside a snap of the dish on social media, Food52 wrote: "This Marinated Green Bean Sandwich's life goal is to be enjoyed at the beach, a park, or any place in the sunshine (it's the perfect on-the-go lunch!)"
But the sandwich is proving controversial, with Herbivoreskitchen commenting: "Wow! I love this idea!!"
"This looks so crunchy yum!" Sabineweimann wrote.
While Bexbakesalot raved: "Just ate this last night and it's stupid good."
And this person was also a fan of Fra's, with Stacey_bodz reminiscing: "I remember this sandwich from Fra's! I only had it once and have always wanted to recreate it at home. Thanks!"
Marinated Green Bean Sandwiches Recipe
- 2 cups green beans
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- Pinch red pepper flakes (to taste—but be generous)
- Pinch salt
- Pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 2 to 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 4 focaccia rolls, halved (or 8 slices of focaccia; if you've made a pan of focaccia, slice 4 big squares and then cut each in half so you have 8 thin squares of focaccia)
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced very thinly
But not everyone was convinced, with Blshoya asking: "This is a joke."
Fflecky thought: "When you run out of ideas..."
Persepione admitted: "Dude NO. Just no. And I love green beans and bread and most sandwiches."
While Chan_take_lah joked: "So that's what they serve in hell."
When approached by Newsweek, Lange said: "The green bean sandwich was a curiosity at the deli then, so I guess it doesn't surprise me that it would make the internet raise its eyebrows now!"
