Crispy Green Bean Fries

When I'm not living smack dab in the middle of the desert, I love to garden.  Rows and rows of squash, peas, watermelons, cucumbers, herbs, lettuces and greens just the thought of it puts a smile on my face. In Tennessee I even had an apple tree, although the birds usually beat me to the apples once they were ripe. I have such fond memories of gardening by the moonlight since the illness I have makes it next to impossible to be in the sun for more than a few minutes.  If you do have a garden I highly suggest going out and digging around in the earth in the dark with just the moon, fireflies and perhaps a candle lantern to light your way. Even though I live in a place where it's a sign of a green thumb is more than a quarter of your yard is green, I still love making some of the recipes I came up with to use up my harvest, especially if I can get to a market that has fresh, in season vegetables and fruit. 

I love fresh green beans.  In a casserole, raw in a salad, in a curry or pasta dish they are scrumptious but oven roasting them till they are brown, blistered and crunchy is my favorite way to eat them, in fact I'd be happy to have just a plate of roasted green beans for dinner.


Crispy Green Bean Fries

1 pound fresh green beans, stem ends removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

*Optional
Red pepper flakes
Parsley
Cajun seasoning
Oregano
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese (add after beans are roasted to avoid burning)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Foil line a baking sheet (easy dinner should equal easy clean up too) and place the beans on the baking sheet.  Drizzle oil over the beans and sprinkle with salt and pepper (and other seasonings if you are using them) and toss around with your hands till evenly coated (your hands  will be happy and moisturized by the olive oil, bonus!) and arrange them in a single layer.  

Place in preheated oven.  Bake for 10 minutes then take the baking sheet out, sprinkle the garlic onto the beans (if we added the garlic at the beginning it would burn) and give them a little stir, making sure to put them back in a single layer.  Return to oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how crispy you want them.  Serve warm. If you have leftovers, re-warm them in the oven, the microwave will make them soggy.

A few wee tips...

* You can add just about any veggie to the party and cook them the same way, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc.  Just take into account how long things may take to cook.  A sweet potato wedge will take much longer than a thin slice of zucchini for example.

* To add even more crunch, after tossing in the olive oil, toss the beans with some panko bread crumbs, keep an eye on them though, burnt panko is a bit of a bummer.

* Try dipping them!  Honey mustard, ranch dressing, ketchup spiked with bourbon and  worcestershire sauce, cocktail sauce, horseradish cream, soy sauce and mirin....the sky's the limit!