Green Beans with Garlic and Lemon Butter

For the first time since I was a child, I have Blue Lake Green Beans in my garden! Yesterday, I went out and picked enough for supper! I only have five plants, but they are loaded and doing well! I wanted to cook them in a unique way, something other than boiled with salt and pepper. I sauted them in butter. I added garlic, a touch of lemon, and finished them off by steaming them in chicken broth. Even my teenage son said, "Those are pretty good!"

Green Beans
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth

Saute green beans in butter. Add garlic and lemon juice and cook until the lemon juice is absorbed or cooked off. Turn heat to medium/medium high and add chicken broth. Cover pan and let steam until the beans are tender. (or until they are your desired texture.) Add salt and Pepper to taste. 

Jamie's Vegetable Soup

My D-I-L, Jamie brought me some of her soup to try when they came over for our family Christmas Saturday. Thank goodness, because I don't feel that great, and this really hit the spot. I just added some left over turkey from Saturday. That made it supper for the hubby... he has to have meat, or it's just a side dish! LOL

5-6 Red Potatoes, cubed
1 can or 1 cup fresh Carrots
1 cup Celery, sliced
1 can Sweet Peas
1 can Corn 
1 can Green Beans
1 can Tomatoes, crushed or diced
1 Onion, chopped
2 (8oz) cans of chicken stock
one packet of Italian dressing mix
2 cups water
1 tsp tomato paste
Salt and Pepper, to taste*

Saute onion and celery in pot with a little oil or butter until onions are translucent. Add chicken stock, dressing mix, salt and pepper, and water. Bring to a boil then turn down to med~high heat for a simmer for 30 minutes. Then add green beans, corn, sliced carrots, (or cup of fresh carrots), potato, peas, tomato and tomato paste. Let simmer for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes have cooked through. Then enjoy!!! I like to eat it with saltines or a good homemade sweet bread.

*I added a little garlic powder, because everything I eat seems to have some garlic in it! LOL That's not everyone's cup of tea!

Southern Green Beans and Potatoes

I cook a lot of green beans for my Wednesday night supper crowd at church. After a while I get really tired of the same old, same old. I'm on a VERY tight budget, so I can't get too fancy. But with just a few extras, you can jazz up some boring old sides. I was cooking hams, so I borrowed some of the fat and a little meat and used it for seasoning... browning it in a saucepan. This feeds 50 people and makes 2 buffet pans of beans. Adjust if you are making for lesser amounts. 

I sliced up some onions and added minced garlic. I added a stick of butter a little at the time. You need to remember (before you gasp at the butter) that this is enough for 50 people. I also added salt and lots of pepper.

I used small potatoes, peeled cut into small, bite sized pieces and cooked. I added them to the green beans in the buffet pan. Then I stirred in the seasonings and covered them with foil. I let the heat through.

After they cooked for a while, I added a little more butter and pepper. I covered it and let it simmer on top of the stove. From the remarks I received, they were VERY tasty! :-)


You need...

Meat and fat for seasoning... Ham, bacon or fat back
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 stick of butter
2 #10 cans Green Beans
4 pounds Potatoes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Greek Pork Loin with Red Potatoes and Green Beans

I'm used to doing Greek Chicken and potatoes, but I wanted something different. I had a 1/4 of a pork loin left in the freezer so I changed things up a bit. I dusted it very generously with Greek Seasoning and poured lemon juice in the bottom of the pan. I also added potatoes and green beans sprinkled with Greek Seasoning.

Good Dark Crispy Coating on the Loin!

Pork Loin

Cavender's Greek Seasoning

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

6-8 small Red Potatoes

Green Beans

Preheat oven to 400. Place loin in a casserole dish fat side up. Dust pork loin with Cavender's Greek Seasoning very, very generously and pour lemon juice in the bottom of the dish. (not on the loin) Cover and bake for 1 hour so the lemon juice steams into the loin. Then add the potatoes and green beans. Sprinkle with Greek Seasoning and return to the oven (Uncovered) to cook another 1/2 hour or until center reaches 145 degrees and the fat and seasonings forms a dark crispy coating. Remove from oven and let rest in the pan for 5 minutes. A great one dish meal! Everything was done at the same time!

I pulled a few chunks off the side of the roast... 

you know that good juicy darker meat?

Oh my Lawd, it's so good!

** You can also add a little butter or margarine to the pan drippings and make a sauce to drizzle over the entire plate. All the flavors compliment each other well!

Southern Style Green Beans

Usually in the South, when you see green beans on the holiday table, they are in the form of a casserole. You know the one... cream of mushroom soup with the crunchy french onion topping. I never liked the french onion stuff. I changed the casserole to a cheese topping with the cracker and butter crunchy topping, but it seems that my kids kind of skip over the casserole. When I serve them plain, just heated through with salt and pepper, they don't get much attention either. Sooo, this time I dumped them in the crockpot and let them simmer all morning. These turned out to be the best green beans I've ever fixed! (I would have used fresh beans, but I didn't have any available. Use fresh whenever you can.)

2 family-size cans Green Beans, with juice
4 slices Bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
2 tbsp of reserved Bacon Grease
2 beef bouillon cubes or 2 tsp beef bouillon granules
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Kosher Salt

Combine the above ingredients in a crockpot and set on medium. Simmer beans for 2 or 3 hours or until the beans take in the flavor of the seasonings. The juices will darken as they cook down. This juice is awesome with a chunk of cornbread!

Green Bean Casserole

What could be more qualified as a holiday recipe than the good ole green bean casserole? My only change is the butter and cracker topping... I never cared for the fried onion topping. Oh! And you have to have cheese! So simple, but delicious!

2 (15 ounce) cans cut green beans, drained
1/3 cup milk
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup crushed buttery round crackers
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir soup, milk, salt, pepper, and beans in casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot. Top with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes. Mix crackers and melted butter sprinkle on top of cheese and bake for 5 minutes.