Summertime Green Beans

Copyright Brooke Becker 2011 Click for Purchase Information

Green Beans are one of my favorite summer treats.  I love picking out handfuls of beans from the heap in the grocery store and carefully snapping off the ends before cooking them.

I like to steam my beans in the microwave.  I put my steamer basket in a bowl, add some water in the bottom of the bowl, throw in the green beans and put a paper towel on top to keep the steam in.  I find that 5-8 minutes gives me crisp, but cooked green beans.  You may want to experiment with the time to get them just right.  I serve them with just a pinch of sea salt, but dill, garlic, and tarragon are also great additions to this healthy vegetable.

Another one of my favorite ways to enjoy green beans is with a chicken roasted over a can of beer.  This is one of my husband's favorite recipes and just happens to be what we will be enjoying for dinner tonight.  He takes care of the chicken part, but I did find a similar recipe here, and I get to chose what vegetables to roast below the chicken.  Roasting vegetables with chicken gives them a fantastic flavor, but I try to get an organic chicken when I do this so there will be less fat.  Green beans are always part of my mix because they add color and flavor.  It is best to just snap off the ends when roasting because larger pieces will keep a crisp texture more then smaller bits.

I keep it simple in my cooking, but you can find 50 recipes to try out for green beans on the Martha Stewart website.  If you have a favorite way to eat green beans please feel free to leave it in the comments.