Do You Like Green Beans?

Just the other day, I was admiring people who post original recipes on their blogs and websites and I thought how I usually just cook with cookbooks. But then on Saturday I made these green beans that make all the time and never had a recipe for - only an inspiration from some green beans we ate at a restaurant once.

The pork chops and mashed potatoes in the photo were from Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes cookbook (I'll do a separate blog post on that sometime). They were both delicious!! The potatoes were mashed with grainy mustard and olive oil, which was new to me and oh, so good! And with it I made "our" green beans. We love them so much I thought I'd share how I make them.

There are no fixed ingredients, so just wing it as I do if you want to try these. It tastes best with fresh green beans and I cut them into 2 inch pieces (about that). I heat some olive oil in a sauté pan, put it over medium-low heat and add the beans.

I turn them once in a while until they start to get soft and a little brown, which takes a while. If they get brown too fast, I lower the heat a little and add a bit of water to help them get soft. (If you are in a time crunch, you can microwave the beans for a few minutes with a little bit of water to start the cooking process.)

When they start to get soft, I add lots of minced garlic (lots!) and whatever else I might like. This time I had some leftover grape tomatoes and added those to slowly cook with everything. Sometimes I add some Herbes de Provence or rosemary or thyme. Or some hot peppers. You can grate some parmesan over it all when it's done. Or add lemon juice. You see, the variations are plentiful! Definitely season with salt and pepper.

The trick is to cook them for a long time until they are soft, brown and are starting to caramelize.

They are delicious!!

Enjoy!!

❧ Silke