Saturday, August 2, 2008

Photo? ...Lunch First

You're going to have to trust me that these beans are better than anything else from my garden right now. In fact, they may just be the best thing I've had all week. You'll have to trust my typed out gushings about this recipe instead of looking at a pretty photo, though, because I was feeling more hungry than artistic this lunchtime - ergo, no shots were taken. Heck, I didn't even think of camera usage until oh, 6 or so tonight. Ah well, they will be made again - that's for sure!

Roasted Green Beans
Serves 4
2 lbs green beans (I used my purple guys again), washed, well-dried, and trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil (or PAM)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
black pepper to taste
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Put green beans on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil (alternately, use an olive-oil spray).
  3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Ensure all the beans are spread into 1 layer.
  5. Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring the beans after 15 minutes, until beans are fairly brown in spots and somewhat shriveled.
  6. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 100.4
Total Fat: 3.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 13.6 mg
Total Carbs: 16.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.7 g
Protein: 4.1 g

The dipping sauces I made for these, too, are absolutely incredible. For some odd reason I am completely incapable of making up my mind when it comes to things, and so I made three of them. For one serving! The extras were really good on toast though, and I'm sure tortilla chips or raw veggies would be at home in each flavourful pool!

Spicy Pepper Dip
Makes 12 quarter-cup servings
3 cups jarred roasted red peppers, undrained
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 tbsp grated ginger root
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
1 medium yellow pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
  1. In a blender or food processor, combine roasted peppers, garlic, jalapeno, mushrooms, ginger and mustard.
  2. Purée until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  3. Fold in remaining ingredients. Chill before serving.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 27.0
Total Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 231.1 mg
Total Carbs: 5.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Protein: 1.2 g

Spiced Berry - Mustard Dip
Thin this out with a touch of orange juice or olive oil for a delicious, zippy salad dressing, or use as is for a great toast or cracker spread. Delicious with roasted vegetables too.
Serves 4, 2 1/2 tbsp servings
1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 tbsp honey mustard
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
  1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Keep in refrigerator - stores about 1 week in a covered container.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 64.3
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 39.3 mg
Total Carbs: 14.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g
Protein: 0.0 g

Orange Dippy - Do
Serves 8 (2-tbsp servings)
This is my go-to fry dip, also great on burgers!
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Store covered in refrigerator until use.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 27.5
Total Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 369.0 mg
Total Carbs: 6.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.2 g
Protein: 0.3 g

2 comments :

  1. I love roasted vegetables - especially green beans. The sauces sound tasty too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I make these green beans but never thought about a dipping sauce. These look great; thanks for posting them!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the feedback!