Roasted Green Beans

You know that I'm all about roasting root veggies—when they soften and start to caramelize, something magical happens to the flavor. But it never occurred to me to roast green beans. Cook's Illustrated suggests that this is the only way to rescue less-than-perfect winter green beans (as opposed to the pricey and scarce haricots verts, which need nothing more than a quick sauté with some butter). Well, they were right (as usual), and the result was really remarkable. I don't think I'll do green beans any other way from now on.

All you do is line a jelly-roll pan with foil and spread your trimmed green beans out. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sea salt; toss to combine. Roast at 450° for about 10 minutes, then toss them around again and roast for about 10 minutes more. They should be starting to shrivel up and turn dark golden brown in some spots. Season with a little more salt and some pepper and dig in!

They look very unappetizing, so I didn't bother with a photo, but as for the taste: Suffice it to say that Andy and I ate nearly a pound and were looking for more. Oh, and all you have to do to clean up is toss the piece of foil.

Comments

[Daisy]

I didn't think anything could tempt me away from the deliciousness that is steamed green beans but this sounds wonderful and I'll definitely give it a go, thank you!

p.s. For non amerikuns wondering what on earth a jelly-roll tin is, here you go:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=jelly-roll+pan&btnG=Search+Images

[Elisson]

Cook's Illustrated also put out a fine recipe for Green Bean Casserole made from scratch (well, except for the fried onions, which they conceded added too much time to the prep without being better than the canned ones). We made it for Thanksgiving and it was superb. That's coming from someone who can's stand the Cream o' Mushroom Soup and Canned Green Bean version.

Roasted green beans ought to be at least as good as roasted asparagus spears, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts. Which is to say, excellent!