Any Fresh Green Bean Cooking Tips?

[tneah]

Hi guys,

I bought a ton of fresh green beans at Whole Foods yesterday and want to cook them in a new and exciting way for some company tonight. For myself I just steam and eat, but these are men who hate veggies anyway, so want to "kick it up" a little. Any ideas?

Thanks! Oh, and they are the larger variety, not the more gourmet, smaller ones.

 

[chefling]

Slice up some sweet onions and baby portabella mushrooms with them, drizzel with olive oil & lemon juice, sprinkle with Sea salt & pepper, toss and roast or grill. Uhmmm I love fresh green beans.

 

[Sunshine 1528]

My two favorite ways to prepare fresh green beans:

Firecracker beans:
Steam green beans with some diced onion and chopped garlic. When cooked, toss with some olive oil and add some chili pepper flakes. (We like it hot so I also toss in a small dash of chili oil too!)

For a BBQ - marinated green beans:
Blanch them, dunk in cold or ice water to stop the cooking. Add some freshly crushed or chopped garlic and then add a combo of whatever salad dressing you have on hand (but I always add some extra balsalmic).

Dressings I like to use: Light Balsamic, herbed red wine vinegar, any kind of viniagrette, Bernstein makes a great Citrus Champagne. Very simple but really yummy with BBQ fixins'

Sometimes I'll add in some sliced onion and/or red bell pepper slices to the marinated green beans for some extra color and flavor.

Enjoy your day !

 

[Miss Lee]

I love them Italian style. This a great recipe from Giada!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29146,00.html

 

[buffettgirl]

I just sprinkle 'em with a little balsamic.

 

[violinga1]

I second roasting them - mmmmm! :9

 

[macska]

Do you like soups?

I have this Hungarian recipe, that is everybody's favorite. Cut up the beans and cooked them in chicken broth (maybe with some chicken breast pieces too) until its tender.
Season it with parsley, pepper, Splenda, little mustard, lemon juice and some light sour cream. It is sort of sweet and sour, and very good when served cold too. I really love it.

 

[tneah]

Oh yummy!:9 All of these ideas sound awesome..question? Its too hot out to turn on the grill (its over 106 today) so blanching sounds good, but what is it? Do you place them in boiling water until tender, and then rinse them with cold water? Sorry, I should know this one, but sadly I do not.

I live Giada's recipe!

Thanks guys! Mascka, hey my hippy friend how's it going?:7

 

[Sunshine 1528]

I know this is really late now, but yes, you got it about the blanching. It is cooking them basically til tender and then "shocking" them in cold to stop the cooking process. It keeps them nice and bright green.

Hope it all worked out OK - sounds like you have some heat going on there.

 

[SirenSongWoman]

Man, this all sounds so good. I can't wait until the whole cooking/nutrition forum is up on Cathe's new site.

 

[goldenpath]

Tneah,

Curious to know how you ended up cooking the beans? and how they turned out?he beans?

 

[mamads]

I boil mine with diced bacon, salt, pepper, garlic, etc. and add potatoes to cook with them. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone . Darlene