Roasted Green Beans

Everything tastes better roasted, right?  I normally steam my green beans, or sauté them with garlic and olive oil, but since I already had the oven on today for some orange-soy ribs, I figured I'd use it to roast the green beans as well.

I seasoned with coriander and cumin, but you could use whatever flavors you like.  I've done it with a sprinkle of curry powder before, and that was also yum!

Roasted Green Beans


Ingredients:

• 2 pounds green beans, washed, trimmed and blot-dried with a kitchen towel
• 1/2-ish teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2-ish teaspoon salt (I used pink Himalayan)
• 1/4-ish teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4-ish teaspoon ground cumin
• 2-ish tablespoons olive oil
• lemon wedge (optional)

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Make sure your beans are pretty dry.  I find patting them down with a kitchen towel after washing does the trick.  You want to minimize moisture because you want them to roast, not steam.  
• On a large sheet pan, toss the green beans with the spices and olive oil. Spread the beans out into a single layer and roast for about 15 minutes, giving them a quick toss halfway through. You want them to be ever so lightly browned and caramelized.
• Remove from oven and spritz with lemon wedge.  Serve hot.

Garlic Green Beans

One of my favorite ways to prepare green beans (or the thinner French haricots verts) is to sauté it in olive oil with garlic.  It's quick, simple and yummy.

Garlic Green Beans

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• green beans, stemmed and washed
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• a couple cloves of garlic, minced (or Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic)

Directions:

• If using large green beans, I like to nuke them for a minute (or blanche them in boiling water) before sautéing, just to soften them up a tad.  If using thinner green beans, or haricots verts, I skip this step.
• In a sauté pan, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
• Toss in the green beans and sauté for a minute or two.
• Add TSSS and minced garlic.  Toss for a few more minutes until the green beans are slightly soft but still crunchy.
• Serve immediately.