Green Beans: The Topic

[Comfort Me]

Until recently, a friend of mine only ate one vegetable -- green beens -- cooked one way -- boiled to death. (The humanity!)

So one night at dinner at my home I served asparagus roasted with olive oil, garlic and sea salt which he said smelled so good he tried it. And much to his (and my) surprise, he loved it. He at half a pound!

Now the funny part: he asked me if he could roast green beens the same way. And I didn't know the answer to that. But I told him I knew where to turn.

Can you roast green beens?

(Next time he comes over I'm roasting cauliflower!)

[ladyyoung98]

i dont see why you could not as long as you were careful not to burn them

[jgm]

I tried it once and they were kinda tough. Might want to try blanching them first.

[NulloModo]

I have tried this before. It isn't as good as stewing them to death in chicken stock with a ham hock, but it isn't bad.

[Jensen]

Check out Chufi's food blog. I'm pretty sure she roasted green beans in one of her meals.

[purplewiz]

Yes, roast green beans are wonderful. They do get a little chewy, but honestly, I like them that way.

Marcia.

[JAZ]

Fine Cooking magazine has an article this issue about roasting vegetables, including green beans. Their suggestion is to toss the beans (trimmed) with sliced shallots and chopped garlic in some olive oil and roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Stir occasionally. They then top the beans with grated lemon zest and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

I haven't tried it (yet) but it's on my list.

The magazine is worth picking up just for the vegetable recipes alone.

[ravum]

Andrea Chesman has a couple of recipes for roasted geen beans in her roasted vegetable book.

Her method is to toss trimmed beans with oil and salt and roast them in a preheated 500F oven for 15 mins,turning them twice.Another recipe calls for adding sesame oil,rice wine,soy sauce and garlic.

I've tried this and it tastes best when the beans are snappy and fresh.Older beans taste a little rubbery when done.

[laniloa]

I do this all the time. Sometimes I add shallots or garlic to roast with them. Sometimes I give a squeeze of lemon or orange juice to finish them off. Sometimes I toss with lime juice and cayenne to finish them off. Sometimes I toss with toasted nuts -- hazelnut, almond, pine. They are great added to pasta. They are great mixed in with other roasted veggies but you may need to add them mid-roast since they go quickly.

[birder53]

Fine Cooking magazine has an article this issue about roasting vegetables, including green beans. Their suggestion is to toss the beans (trimmed) with sliced shallots and chopped garlic in some olive oil and roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Stir occasionally. They then top the beans with grated lemon zest and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

I haven't tried it (yet) but it's on my list.

The magazine is worth picking up just for the vegetable recipes alone.

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I tried this recipe and it was very good. The shallots carmelized nicely and the bean were delicious. I'm a F ine Cooking junkie!

[easternsun]

i love to roast green beans with a few dabs of butter and ...wait for it...a sprinkle of lipton onion soup mix....it sounds gross but it tastes great!

[PurpleDingo99]

Actually, I steamed them a bit once (a little undercooked) and then 'stir-fry'ed em with some portabellas and dill weed in some good EVOO and it was awesome.

so, perhaps you should steam them a little before roasting.

Edited February 19, 2005 by PurpleDingo99 (log)

[Chufi]

Check out Chufi's food blog. I'm pretty sure she roasted green beans in one of her meals.

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yes she did. You can see the beans here (post #48).

I love love love roast green beans! I serve them at every single party and buffet and they disappear faster than anything. They are easy to make ahead and they go with almost anything. I never blanch them. Just toss in olive oil, make sure they are all coated with oil, and spread in a single layer. I keep testing them as they roast because there is that perfect stage of goldenbrown nutty roastedness that can very quickly turn into blackened chewiness.

I actually like them better cold or at room temperature than hot. With a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.. or some basil.. tossed with roast tomatoes.. slivers of parmesan..

Did I mention I love roast green beans??

[ChefSwartz]

try stewing the beans in evoo, with whole grape tomatoes,garlic,shallots,thyme and basil mmmmmmmm...

Edited February 21, 2005 by ChefSwartz (log)

[bloviatrix]

Fine Cooking magazine has an article this issue about roasting vegetables, including green beans. Their suggestion is to toss the beans (trimmed) with sliced shallots and chopped garlic in some olive oil and roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Stir occasionally. They then top the beans with grated lemon zest and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

I haven't tried it (yet) but it's on my list.

The magazine is worth picking up just for the vegetable recipes alone.

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Try it!! I made this for dinner last night without the nuts and it was delicious. I could've eaten the whole bowl by myself. It will definitely join the rotation.

[maui420]

out of all the meat and carbs(rice, bread, potatos, mac salad, etc) i should include some greens. the local farmers market had a whole bag of green beans for cheap.

so anyways, i was planning on throwing in the beans in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, take them out, then tossing them in a skillet with some butter and kosher salt for a minute or 2...

will this come out right? something simple? or any other things i can do to it to flavorize them?

thanks.

[BROWNSUGA]

That's kind of how I make mine. I put them in boiling water for a few minutes. Then, I take them out and put them in ice cold water to stop the cooking. I let them drain. Then, I put them in my wok and continue cooking them in olive oil, add some seasonings, mushrooms, a little soy sauce and I am good to go!! Yum! Yum!!

[epicurean905]

out of all the meat and carbs(rice, bread, potatos, mac salad, etc) i should include some greens. the local farmers market had a whole bag of green beans for cheap.

so anyways, i was planning on throwing in the beans in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, take them out, then tossing them in a skillet with some butter and kosher salt for a minute or 2...

will this come out right? something simple? or any other things i can do to it to flavorize them?

thanks.

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Normally, this is how I would do my beans, as well. However, I noticed that you are cooking bbq. If this is the case, I always do mine Southern style. This entails snapping or cutting your beans into one inch (or so) pieces. Then cook the beans in a pot of water with a smoked ham hock or other piece of smoked meat. The beans are cooked until very tender. These are no hericots verts! In fact, after cooking them in pork stock, they hardly qualify as a vegetable, but they are awfully good and a great side dish to a traditional bbq.

[Mayhaw Man]

How about something completely different (or at least it might be for you, this is common BBQ fare in the Delta where I grew up)?

German Green Beans (and I managed to enter it with no help, Susan.

[Shalmanese]

I blanch them, and then stir fry them in olive oil & salt until they are well done, as in, little black spots of burnt green bean speckle them. Then, I toss in some very thin slivers of garlic, toss around until just cooked, and toss in a good healthy glug of balsamic vinegar. Reduce the balsamic down to a glaze and you have the most wonderful balsamic glazed green beans.

[NulloModo]

I agree that southern style is the best prep of green beans. No need to snap them into 1" pieces though, I've met very few true southern cooks who do that.

Take your green beans, toss them into a pot with ham hocks (bacon or neck bones will do in a pinch), cover with chicken stock, some salt, pepper, a little cayenne, and a tad of vinegar, and just let them simmer until they are a nice army drab color (several hours never hurts).

[Della]

Do you have a grill pan? They can be bought for about $20 at kitchen stores. I love mine for the grilling/bbq season. I just place it on the grill (it has holes in it so the heat and flames can come thru but your food doesn't fall into the fire) and put my green beans in the pan.

I coat them with some olive oil first, salt, pepper, sometimes a dash of red pepper flakes.

Just give them a stir once in a while and they are super yummy.

I sometimes will add some mushrooms about half way thru the cooking process.

[Nyleve Baar]

Steam the green beans until just tender. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Throw in a bunch of whole garlic cloves (peeled) and cook them until they are soft and golden (don't let them burn). Take a fork and mash the garlic into the oil. Throw in the green beans, season with salt and pepper and add a splash of chicken broth or water. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the beans are completely tender.

Green beans are the one veg that I really prefer a little overcooked. Lightly steamed and crunchy beans taste furry to me. The above method will cause you to eat the entire batch yourself - I promise.

[chezcherie]

last night we grilled and green bean-ed. the beans were fab, and here's what i did. steamed them til tender, and topped them with a compound butter with chopped (raw) shallots, pernod, salt and white pepper.

if there were any of those left, i would eat them for bfast! taragon would send them over the top, but i had none....next time!

[sparrowgrass]

Thanks for all the ideas--I picked my first green beans of the season yesterday. And my first okra, but that is a thought for another thread.