Set your oven to 212⁰F/100⁰C on steam-only setting (100% humidity).
Put the beans into a large, solid stainless steel tray and steam them for 10-12 minutes – you want them to be soft but with a little bit of bite left in them.
While the beans cook, whisk together the oil and vinegar and add black pepper to taste. Set aside.
Once the beans are cooked to your liking, remove from the oven. Toss them in the dressing while hot so they absorb the flavours. Put them onto a platter and scatter the almonds over the top to serve.
Notes
You can serve these hot or at room temperature. If you’re eating the leftovers the next day, I wouldn’t reheat them though, as heating the dressed beans seems to give them a funny metallic taste.
If you are particularly concerned about the colour of your beans, you can absolutely refresh them in iced water as soon as they come out of the oven. I don’t always bother, but it does give them a brighter colour.
I’m able to buy very decent (and usually quite fresh) pre-roasted almonds at the supermarket – if you can’t buy them, just roast raw ones at 350⁰F/180⁰C in a conventional (fan forced) oven for about 10-12 minutes, until they are toasty smelling and the skins have started to crack and are darkened just a little.
The dressing quantities are guidelines, you'll need to adjust to taste. I like something erring on the side of too vinegary but I know that’s not for everyone. Feel free to up the oil a bit to taste. I don’t add salt to the dressing because most everything else we eat with this dish is generally salty enough, but again, you do what you like.