Green Beans With Garlic Bread Crumbs

Green beans are a favorite vegetable in our house. I usually purchase them fresh and in bulk, but the frozen varieties are very good as well. The thing is, plain old string beans are kind of boring. They just sit on the plate, resigned to being unappreciated. Green beans with garlic bread crumbs are much more assertive. They beg to be eaten.

The garlic bread crumbs can be prepared while the beans are cooking. For fresh beans, I trim the ends and steam them whole in the microwave. They take about 6 minutes. While the beans are steaming, it’s just a matter of browning some bread crumbs in a little garlic, butter and olive oil.

Any type of cooked string bean will be great with garlic bread crumbs. Look for other colors at your favorite vegetable stand. The beans don’t have to be whole if you prefer them cut into bite sized pieces.

I brown the bread crumbs in a mix of olive oil and butter. This would be a great chance to use a small amount of flavored oil (walnut oil for example) to give the bread crumbs a little extra kick. You could certainly substitute another light flavored oil or even coconut oil for any or all of the olive oil/butter combination.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound whole green beans, washed trimmed and steamed
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (fresh, gluten free, panko…whatever you have on hand)
• 2 – 4 cloves garlic, minced fine (depends on the size and your love of garlic)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup or more chopped fresh parsley (dried works too)
• grated parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the butter and olive in a medium skillet
2. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
3. Add the bread crumbs and stir to mix well. Cook until the crumbs are a nice golden brown color.
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Arrange the green beans on a platter, drizzle with some more olive oil and spoon the garlic bread crumbs over top.
6. Add more cheese and parsley for garnish if desired.

Now that you’ve tried green beans with garlic bread crumbs, don’t stop there! Try garlicky bread crumbs over broccoli, squash, roasted tomato slices, fish or chicken. There are many opportunities to use them and the recipe can be easily adjusted and modified to suit.