Green Bean Panko Oven Fries with Wasabi Sour Cream

So it is summertime, and the supermarket and farmers markets are teeming with vibrant and fresh produce.  Oodles of it.  Mounds of it.  Stone fruits and berries.  Musky melons.  Tender leafy greens.  Sweet corn.  Zucchini and summer squash.  And tomatoes.  Oh the tomatoes.  And you get the picture.  And I feel like I’m supposed to be turning this into salads, letting each piece of produce shine with little adornment, reveling in the joy that comes from eating food at its peak of flavor.  I’m pretty sure it has been mandated that salads are supposed to be the thing you eat lots of in the summer.  And I have maybe made maybe one salad so far?  I’m not sure what the problem is.  Perhaps rebellion?  I have been doing the opposite, though, and turning veggies into oven fries!  So here are green bean fries with a wasabi cream dip.  Of course there would be a dip!

Ingredients
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 cup panko
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin

Dip:
8 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
1 teaspoon lime juice

Instructions
Heat oven to 425.  Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Boil the green beans for 2 minutes then place in a bowl of ice and water to stop the cooking.  Beat the egg and milk and place in a shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl, mix together flour, panko, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin.  Coat each green bean first in the egg mixture and then the panko mixture.  Place on a greased or lined baking sheet.  Repeat for each green bean.  Bake about 25 minutes, turning them over about halfway through so that they can crisp and brown on all sides. 

To make the dip, stir the sour cream, wasabi paste, and lime juice together and refrigerate until serving.