When I was growing up we ate green beans…canned green beans….they have a weird kind of taste & colour..& I remember not really liking them. Then we started eating frozen green beans…better- but my mom boiled them…the texture was weird…they kind of squeak when you bite them… I have not opened a can of green beans for many years & ate the frozen ones most of my life.
Green bean casserole is a favorite dish… green beans, mushroom soup & french fried onions…still love this dish! Made with frozen green beans this casserole is quick & simple to make.
Then, I realized that ..ha! you can get fresh green beans at farmers markets in the summer. These are much better. I boiled them…Sauteed them..made green bean almondine… I like all of these different ways to eat green beans.
Now fresh green beans are available all year round at the grocery stores & they are available at Costco sometimes. So I buy them fresh all the time.
But then…. I read about roasting green beans!! This my absolute favourite way to eat green beans. They get a crispy charred deliciousness to them..I like them just lightly oiled & salted , put into a hot oven & roasted until they shrink & shrivel up… I could eat a whole bag full. And I don’t think that they squeak when you bite into them!!!
The recipe is simple…more of a ‘how to’ then a recipe& no different then roasting any other vegetable really
Ingredients
as many fresh green beans as you want to eat
salt
olive oil
Method
prepare a baking sheet…line it with parchment paper or foil or not— if you want to have to scrub the baking sheet…
- Clean & trim any brown ends of your green beans…the thin fresh ones are good & I don’t think they need to have the centre string pulled out.. if your green beans are thick I like to pull one end & puck the sting out… but I don always do that..it depends on the green beans… I clean them by submersing them into a big bowl of water & letting them soak for a few minutes then put them onto a kitchen towel & dry them
- Put your green beans onto the prepared baking sheet or into a bowl
- Drizzle them with some olive oil & kosher salt..
- Toss the beans around to cover all of them with the oil & salt…just use your hands to do this if you want… I always use my hands…seems to work better than other kitchen tools for this purpose.
- Spread the beans out onto the baking sheet in a single layer if you can but I don’t always do this if I have a bunch of beans..
- Put the beans into a 400f oven & roast them for about 15 minutes… BUT THE TIME IS SUBJECTIVE…DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF YOUR BEANS… SO WATCH THEM… I CHECK THEM AFTER 15 MINUTES & THEN KEEP THEM IN THE OVEN UNTIL THEY ARE DONE TO THE WAY WE LIKE THEM….
- And that’s it!
You can serve these with some fresh lemon juice squeezed over top of the beans… as they are just out of the oven…with a little tahini dressing drizzles over-top of the beans…Tahini Salad Dressing….throw some toasted almonds on these beans…they are just good anyway you eat them!
Simple, yet tasty!
I love green beans like this