Roasted Green Beans

I love vegetables. I’m always trying to think of new healthy ways to make them. Usually I just steam them-- boring. I made this a couple weeks ago based on what I had on hand. I just didn’t feel like steaming vegetables again, I wanted something different. So I decided to roast the beans instead of steaming them. 

The first time I made them I just used green beans, a shallot, a few cloves of garlic, and a lemon that was threatening to go bad if I let it sit another day. But when I made them last night, I happened to have a red pepper in the fridge and thought it would add some nice color to the dish. Any color pepper would work, or it could be omitted altogether. 

 I used fresh green beans, I’m sure you could use frozen beans. I’m not sure about the amount of green beans I used. When I buy them fresh at the grocery store I just keep adding them to the bag until I feel like I have a good amount for two people. I guess it’s about 3 cups, but who knows, I’m not very good at estimating, and I didn’t think to weigh them. 

 This time I used my mini food processor to chop the shallot and garlic. Usually I just slice them up by hand, but I have cut two fingertips, one on each hand, which at the moment makes chopping difficult for me.



Roasted Green Beans
Serves 3-4

Fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
1 shallot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, diced (optional)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F. Lay beans in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Sprinkle shallot and garlic over beans.

If using a pepper, add it to the baking sheet as well. Drizzle olive oil over everything; season with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven for about 2o minutes, or til shallots are golden and beans are beginning to brown. I like to rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

When done cooking, remove from the oven and put in serving bowl. If using a lemon, add zest over beans. I also like to squeeze the lemon juice over everything; it brightens the flavor.