Sweet and Crunchy Green Beans

Vegetables were the worst nightmare of many of us when we were younger. Now a lot of us have learned to like/love certain ones. One vegetable I never learned to like, until I made this new dish, was green beans. My dish today is 'Sweet and Crunchy Green Beans'. What I love about this dish, and adds for a lot more flavor, is bacon.

               This specific recipe by Juli Bauer, author of Paleo Cookbook, calls for thick cut bacon (Bauer 198), but seeing as I did not have thick cut, I used regular cut and it turned out delicious. This was overall a very fun dish to cook because I loved sautéing the onions and making the bacon in order to mix it with the green beans. The key ingredient in this recipe was to “leave 3 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan” (Bauer 198) because it allowed for that bacon flavor to soak into the green beans. It may sound like too much bacon, but the fat combined with the onion, does not make give the green beans an overpowering bacon flavor.

               Once the green bean mixture of green beans, onions, and bacon was completely done and cooked, the recipe calls for Almond slices (Bauer 198) to be sprinkled on top. As you can see in the picture to the left, I did not do that, but if you ever make this dish you certainly can. I would definitely recommend this dish to anybody who is looking for a slightly sweet and savory vegetable dish. I made this to be on the side of a steak dish, but it would be good for most any meal.

What are your favorite vegetables? What types of dishes do you pair them with?

Bauer, Juli, Bill Staley, and Hayley Mason. Juli Bauer's Paleo Cookbook: Over 100 Gluten-free Recipes to Help You Shine from within. Las Vegas: Victory Belt, 2015. Print.

Find Joy in Vegetables

IT IS A GLORIOUS TIME FOR VEGETABLE LOVERS!
First of all, I would like to give a huge thank you to the farmers at their markets, exporters, and seedsmen that are showering us with tastes, textures, and aromas we had never even heard of a few years ago. In this blog, I will be talking about the importance of vegetables, rules and preparing vegetables.

Importance of Vegetables:
Many people prefer not to eat vegetables. However, we can see the evidence that vegetables can change lives from the book, All New Joy of Cooking. "Scientists keeps confirming the age-old maternal admonition to eat your vegetables. The specific diseases you can avoid and miracle micro-nutrient of the moment might change with each new study, but the general advice stays the same: vegetables are good for you" (Becker and Rombauer 332). 

Rules for  Vegetables:
1. Just like fruits, if possible, buy vegetables that have been organically raised.
2. Do not wash vegetables until ready to cook them.
3. Look to see if vegetables have been waxed or sprayed.
4. If stored, check vegetables daily.

Preparing Vegetables:
Number one rule: "Prepare vegetables as close to cooking time as possible" (Becker and Rombauer 333). Wash vegetables no more than is needed to remove dust and dirt. I also learned that tepid water relaxes the leaves just enough for them to let down hidden grains of sand. "The skin is a vegetable's seal, keeping nutrients in and microorganisms out" (Becker and Rombauer 333). If necessary, vegetables can be cut up and refrigerated in an airtight container several hours in advance.



Do you eat vegetables everyday? What is your favorite vegetable? What is your preparation technique?
Bombauer, Irma Von Starkloff. Joy Of Cooking / All New All Purpose. NY, NY: Scribner, 1997. Print.