Roasted Green Beans
(adapted from Moosewood Cookbook)
This is one of our favorite ways to eat green beans. Depending on how many beans you have, it doesn’t make a very large serving or take up much space in the oven, so I try to make it when I’m already using the oven, or I use our toaster oven. This recipe makes four side-dish servings (or enough to lay over pasta or garnish another vegetable dish for more people).
1 Tbs. olive oil
½ lb. fresh whole green beans, trimmed
½ cup sliced onion
5 to 6 medium cloves garlic, peeled
salt and pepper
1 Tbs. balsamic or red wine vinegar
½ cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush a medium-sized baking tray with 1 Tbs. olive oil (about that much anyway—who needs to be exact?).
2. Spread the green beans, onions, and garlic cloves on the tray and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, intermittently stirring or shaking the tray. Taste a green bean to see if it’s as tender as you like it. If not, put it back in for another 5 or 10 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; transfer to a bowl. Drizzle with vinegar, and possible grind in some additional black pepper. Serve at any temperature, topped with pine nuts.
Eggplant suggestions
Since this is just the beginning of the eggplant, you’ll have more to work with in the future, but here are some yummy suggestions to try out now or later (borrowed from Asparagus to Zucchini):
A pseudo-curry meal
We love Indian food, but have no idea how to cook it authentically. Here is a meal that we made up to mimic the ‘real thing,’ using uses ingredients we have on hand. Since we change this slightly every time we make it (and don’t have a precise recipe), feel free to adjust actual vegetables, seasonings, etc. as you cook. (We’ve included vegetables from this share, but carrots, potatoes, peppers, and others are also delicious additions.)
Vegetable curry main dish
Warm oil in a deep pan or stockpot. Sauté chopped onions until soft. Add tablespoon or two of curry powder. Stir well. Halve, quarter and then chop eggplant and zucchini (peeled or not). Add to pan. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant and zucchini begin to soften and brown. Add hot water or stock to cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until eggplant starts to break down.
Add chopped cauliflower and stir in, along with a few tablespoons of tomato sauce or paste (preferably unseasoned). Continue to simmer covered until cauliflower is soft and breaking down.
Once vegetables are soft to your preference (we like them very well cooked), add some heavy cream (1/2 cup or so) and/or coconut milk. Add salt, curry powder, red pepper flakes, and other seasonings to taste. Remove cover and simmer on low heat to reduce liquid and mix flavors, as needed. Serve over turmeric rice with following suggestions …
Turmeric rice
Cook basmati rice according to directions, but add a teaspoon of turmeric to the water before mixing together. This will give a nice yellow color to the finished rice.
Turmeric cabbage
Chop cabbage. Warm oil of choice to pan large enough to hold cabbage. Add cabbage along with a tablespoon or so turmeric. Sauté until cabbage just begins to wilt. If you have them, fresh or frozen peas are also a nice addition to this dish—add them just after the cabbage.
Cucumber sauce
Grate a cucumber and mix it with plain yogurt, salt and pepper. Add chopped fresh mint too, if you have some. Serve on the side or as a garnish to the curry dish. This is a very refreshing and cooling condiment.
Other yummy accompanying condiments: sliced bananas, coconut flakes, and chutney.
