Oven-roasted green beans, October 2012
For a little bit of side-dish elegance, oven roasted green beans are a great option. Roasting caramelizes the outsides and brings out the flavors of this commonplace vegetable.
I’ve made this dish often and always enjoy its simple sophistication. While it’s great for making an everyday dinner special, it also works well for a holiday dinner because you can roast the beans while you’re putting the finishing touches on the rest of the meal. For a larger group, multiple pans will be needed because you spread the beans out on a single layer.
Trimming the fresh beans can be done the leisurely way, by pinching off the stem end (and tail end too, if you like) with your thumbnail or a paring knife. This should be done in a comfortable chair, and outside if the weather is nice. Any unoccupied family members can be recruited.
However, as an empty-nester I usually don’t have a team at home and want to get it done quickly, so I line up batches of beans on a cutting board and trim both ends with a chef’s knife. For this recipe, the beans are left whole rather than snapped into pieces.
The recipe also works with asparagus. To trim asparagus, bend one stalk until it snaps to find how much is tender, then with a large knife cut the rest to the same length, discarding the tough bases.
| Oven-Roasted Green Beans | Print |
- 1 pound green beans, washed and trimmed
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Pinch of salt
- Heat oven to 425 °F. When oven is preheated, place an empty rimmed baking sheet in the oven and heat for 10 minutes.
- Place trimmed beans in a bowl, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss well to coat.
- Take the hot pan from the oven and distribute the beans in a single layer in the pan. They will sizzle!
- Bake for about 8 minutes or until crisp-tender and browned on the bottoms. Taste to check for doneness.
Shared at:
- Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays
- The Gluten-Free Homemaker Gluten-Free Wednesdays
- Wheat-Free Fare Wheat-Free Wednesday Blog Hop Party
- Phoenix Helix Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) Roundtable
Eileen, thanks for sharing at {Wheat-Free Wednesday} last week. Your post has been pinned to my Pinterest board and shared on my FB page. AND you’re featured on this week’s blog hop! 🙂 I hope you’ll share again this week. The list goes live tonight:
http://www.annemariecain.com/wheat-free-wednesday-11-07-12/
Anne-Marie,
Thanks for pinning and featuring my post, and for hosting a fun Blog Hop. I will return to your Hop!
I never thought about roasting green beans. As I was reading I was thinking this reminds me of asparagus, and sure enough, you start talking about aparagus. I planted a bunch of asparagus crowns last week that I got from someone who was thinning out. I’m looking forward to roasting those.
Home grown asparagus–you have something to look forward to!
This looks so simple and so delicious! I’d love for you to share your recipe on my new blog hop, {Wheat-Free Wednesday}! Hope to see you there! 🙂
http://www.annemariecain.com/wheat-free-wednesday-blog-hop-party/
Anne-Marie, Yes, I’ll stop by your blog hop! Thanks for visiting here and for your kind comment.