A Twist on a Southern Favorite

I grew-up eating green beans. Ones that have been cooked down and down a little more with a bit of bacon fat for flavoring. While I have always enjoyed eating green beans, I have never ever attempted a different recipe. 

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Adam's family has a couple of chickens. Okay understatement on a couple. But they also have a garden. At the end of their harvest, I got fresh bell peppers, green beans, and tomatoes. I had more green beans than I could eat. I cleaned and froze half of them to use for later. And later finally came a few weeks ago!

I was making turkey hamburgers with sweet potato fries for dinner and needed some color on my plate. I searched the internet and found a great green bean recipe. (Here is the Pin on Pinterest so you can find the recipe on the Food Network website)

Start with fresh cut green beans, trim the ends off and slice them in half. Place them into a pot of rapid, boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Steaming the beans.

Place the steamed green beans into a bowl of ice water to finish the cooking process so you have 'blanched' the green beans!

blanched green beans ... waiting

In a large skillet or pot (like I used) heat 1 tsp of oil and 3 Tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes and 2 large minced garlic cloves (aka about 1 tsp. minced garlic) satué until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

oil, butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes

Add the beans back to the oil mixture until the beans are well covered. I remove the beans from the heat and place them in a bowl. I serve the dish cold but make sure the sauce is still warm/melted. Top with a lemon zest. Initially, I didn't want to add the zest, but it actually does add that missing flavor.

Green beans ready to eat!

Hope you enjoy these! They will be a bit warm in flavor, but they are a great side dish.  Promise.

Happy baking and tasty eating.
Good Golly