Saturday, August 8, 2009

Garlic and Green Beans

As you must know by now, I'm not a fancy cook - I like to describe myself as producing good, plain food. I'm generally content to cook veggies simply and to adorn them with nothing more than a wisp of butter and perhaps a light shake of salt. In my view, it's hard to improve on the flavor of good, fresh vegetables.

Every now and then, however, I do embellish. I had some green beans in the fridge and some garlic; that reminded me of a recent Sunset recipe that sautéed fresh green beans with garlic and fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme as that is currently booming along in my pot garden - no, not that kind of pot!) for a little flavor boost. I used olive oil, just a drizzle, and minced the garlic and herbs. Once the beans were just starting to brown lightly, I added the rest for a moment or two to just warm the garlic and release the scent from the lemon thyme. Off the heat, added a squeeze of lemon juice.

I don't like the word "nice." So namby-pamby. But, in this case, it was appropriate. The dish was nice. Not offensive, not spectacular, but happily, tastily - nice.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Kailyn said...

I've been sauteing green beans with garlic since I had it at Esperpento's years ago. I usually put the garlic in earlier because I like it to brown a little. Oh, and I recently discovered that beans with a little fresh mint are tasty as well. Kind of refreshing.

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger Anna Haight said...

Green beans must be in season here, as I've been getting a supply and reacquainting myself with their sturdy goodness.

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

Oh, sounds yummy.
Jeez, I have a sack of beans in the fridge, and yet the garden is holding me hostage. No more farmers market!

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Kailyn, now, you are a more adventurous cook than I - I usually just think the beans themselves are fine the way Nature grew them. Your minty idea sounds like what I'll try next.

Anna, yes, they are everywhere all of a sudden. Thank heavens!

Cookiecrumb, my garden did that last year and I really missed the market, so this year, I cut back. You can freeze some of your produce for the lean winter months, if you have that kind of energy.

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger Katie Zeller said...

I'm with you when it comes to fresh green beans... nothing required.
But, garlic and lemon thyme? Perfect! I love lemon thyme.

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger Ms Brown Mouse said...

Thursday night, we had exactly that too! Beans, garlic, thyme and lemon. Yum.

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

KatieZ, I often think I'm "channeling" you - our tastes seem similar, although you have much greater variety.

Morgan, it's a mighty combination, isn't it?

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Blogger Greg said...

We planted some green beans a few weeks ago and they are looking promising.Garlic sounds like a plan.

Saturday, August 08, 2009  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Greg, we haven't any homegrown this year but I miss them!

Monday, August 10, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Oops, Greg, that was me - just forgot to log in first! Happy greenie beaning!

Monday, August 10, 2009  

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