Heather says:
Fearless Fridays are a chance for readers of this site to share what they’ve been trying in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be fancy, all I ask is that it be a new recipe or a new technique. Share a link to your effort in the McKlinky or tell us about it in the comments. There is even a Flickr group that everyone is welcome to join and share.
What did you try this week?
I know I’ve been talking about eating seasonally, but there were green beans and they were cheap, so I cheated and bought them. Why? They were whispering to me, “Remember when you heard someone say after they tried roasted green beans, they’d never eat them any other way” Why yes, I did remember that. So the green beans were soon bagged, taken on a car ride, and tucked into the crisper.
I roast root vegetables, broccoli, and cauliflower all the time. The high heat does a beautiful thing to the natural sugars. So I decided, what the heck, why not try it with green beans?
Preheat the oven to 425F make sure one rack is in the top position.
Wash the beans, pinch off the stems and the tips -I had only done the stems in my batch, next time the tips come off, they crisped too quickly.- Â Place the trimmed beans in a large bowl and toss with a small amount of olive oil.
Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes, watch them carefully the last few minutes as brown yields fabulous flavor, but if it turns black you may as well suck on a charcoal briquette.
Verdict? Fabulous. It’s an easy side for any evening where the oven has already been in use. It’s a side dish that can be prepped at any time during the meal preparation and finished at the last minute while the table is set and drinks are poured.
Enjoy.
I love roasted green beans! Served hot out of the oven, they're great. But if they cool down a bit, don't fret!
The first time I had them was at a party – they were on an hors d'oeuvres table, served at room temperature. I kept going back for more!
I've also had leftover roasted green beans cold, straight out of the fridge, but usually we have no leftovers of these.
A friend served them on a buffet, cold, with a vinaigrette, which many folks liked but I didn't care for – I love the roasted veggie flavor, don't want to cover it up)
We introduced roasting veggies to my mother and father in law – they'd never heard of it, which is weird coz he watches Food Network all the time and I figured he would have seen it on there. Now they love roasting beans, broccoli, carrots, etc.
Mmmm. I've never roasted green beans, but I'm sure it's good. I roast brussels sprouts all the time, though: the only way I really like them. 🙂
Oh yeah, and I made my first chutney this week, using cranberries, snipped-up dried figs, rosemary, and a little apple juice. It was served over slices of pork tenderloin, and was really tasty! My husband's response was, "Dang, this is SO a company meal!" The best part was that the whole meal took maybe 30 minutes to make. I love making people think I've slaved in the kitchen all day. 😉
Okay, sounds great. Could I do anything like this with frozen ones? I know it's a lame question, but that's what I have. I didn't do anything fearless this week. We're in a gigantic snowstorm right now…okay, gigantic for us anyway. Four feet so far. The only thing I recall doing that was different was making your balsamic chicken–very good! I also threw in white chocolate chips with the regular semi-sweet while making chocolate chip cookies, but I don't think anyone would call that fearless.
Love roasted green beans. YUM.
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I love them this way too! My sister (the one who ISN"T a cook) is the one who introduced them to me-she says her kiddos (who hate veggies) will eat these up like french fries!
I tried my hand at homemade chicken nuggets. My 5 year old didn't like them (they're not Chik Fil A or McDonalds) but everyone else loved them. I froze what was left over for a quick dinner one night. I also made stove top chicken broccolli and rice casserole. I didn't put enough rice in it, but it was SO good and it took half the time it would have as a casserole. I'll have to post the recipe on my blog once the pain from my root canal dissapears.