Roast Green Beans on an Impulse Recipe
I'm pretty pleased with these Roasted Green Beans and Scallions. But it didn't start out that way. That pile of beans started out more as a burden before I turned them into an opportunity.
I think I've said this before, but I'm a bad shopper. I have two modes when it comes to grocery shopping. Usually I shop for exactly what I need, pretty much on a daily basis. I could argue that its a very chic way to shop– very European. But the truth is, I'm just plain fickle. Which makes it impossible to plan weekly menus and stick to them.
Then there's the impulse shopper in me. The guy that shows up at the Hollywood Farmers Market with an empty bag and an empty brain. He's the guy that thinks a few feet of sugar cane is a good idea. The guy who buys 3 bunches of radishes because he can't decide which color he likes best. He's also the guy that bought a big (huge) pile of green beans last week. Which doesn't seem like a mistake. We eat vegetables at every meal. Right?
But the problem with this style of impulse shopping is I tend to over buy. When a fickle cook over buys a burden develops, because fickle eaters don't want to eat a big (huge) pile of green beans at every meal, especially when they're prepared the same exact way each time. But hey, I'm a creative cook. A big (huge) pile a green beans shouldn't be my undoing. So one day I steamed some until tender crisp. Then I threw some into leftover soup, heating them through until they were just tender crisp. I even took the time to stir fry a few of them with carrots and garlic until everything was tender crisp.
But by Day 4, I still had a big (huge) pile of green beans. But I was sooo bored of tender crisp that I could just snap. Steamed until tender crisp. Boiled until tender crisp. Sauteed until tender crisp. So on Day 5 I roasted the hell out of them. Why had I never thought of that before? To trick us into eating more vegetables my mom used to roast green beans wrapped in bacon. I loved them. Or at least I loved the bacon.
So forget the rule about cooking green beans just until they're crisp-tender. These oven-roasted beans are lusciously soft with intensified sweet green bean flavor. They're not pretty looking though. In fact they come out a bit wilted, shriveled, and brown (almost black) on the tips. But man is this a good way to eat up a big pile of impulse beans. GREG
- 2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut or left whole as you prefer
- 1 bn scallions, root end left mostly intact and greens trimmed to the length of the beans and halved lengthwise
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
- 1/4 c cup olive oil, plus more if needed
- 2 t minced, fresh thyme leaves
- 1 t minced, fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 t kosher salt
- 1 t freshly cracked black pepper
Place the oven rack in the center position. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Combine green beans, scallions, garlic, thyme and rosemary in a large bowl. Add the oil and toss until well coated. Lay the beans and scallions out on a parchment lined baking sheet as flat as possible. Roast the beans, turning them every 15 minutes or so to prevent sticking (add more oil if needed). Continue roasting until soft, wilted, shriveled and browned around the edges, about 45 minutes.