Cheesy Rice with Chicken and Green Beans

This is easy comfort food, born of leftovers. Feel free to mix it up with other vegetables - cooked broccoli, cauliflower, or summer squash would be obvious substitutes for the green beans. You can, of course, make rice and chicken specifically for this dish if you like. It lends itself to having the ingredients made ahead.

2 Tbsp butter
2 large shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
6-7 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups chicken broth
3-4 cups cooked chicken
3-4 cups cooked green beans in 1-inch lengths
4 ounces shredded cheddar, or to taste

Melt the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Add the shallot or onion and saute over medium high heat for a couple minutes. Add the rice and the chicken broth. Mix well to thoroughly combine and moisten the rice. Reduce heat to low-medium and cover the pan. Cook until the liquid is largely absorbed and the rice is quite tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the rice has absorbed most of the broth, stir in the chicken and green beans and continue to cook until heated through. Add the cheddar. You can sprinkle it over the top and let it melt or stir it in.

Serves about 6.

Garlic Roasted Green Beans

These were simple to prepare and they came out really delicious even though I made them with beans that had been frozen. If you're roasting something else for dinner (chicken legs, say, or fish), you can do these right on the same pan. Just add them about 20 minutes before the rest of the dinner needs to be removed from the oven.

5 cups cut green beans (thawed and well drained if frozen)
8-10 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well, so that the beans are thoroughly coated with oil and the garlic is well distributed. Spread out in thin layer on a baking sheet (it's ok if it's not a single layer, but try not to pile them too much). Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring once, until the beans start to turn a bit golden in places.

Serves about 4.

Curried Green Beans and Cashews

This is my six-year-old's favorite green bean preparation and I have to agree that it's good.

You can leave the green beans full length or trim them into 1-2 inch lengths for easier handling. You can speed preparation of the dish by lightly steaming the green beans first if you like.

Canola oil
1 lb green beans, stemmed
1/2 cup cashew pieces, lightly toasted
1 tsp garam masala (or curry powder if that's what you have)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little canola oil in a large skillet. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Saute over medium heat for several minutes, stirring frequently, until the green beans are tender. Serve hot.

Serves about 4.

Greek Roasted Green Beans

Use fresh or frozen beans for this. If using frozen ones, thaw them first and drain off the excess water. In summer, make this with fresh beans and fresh herbs.

1 lb green beans, stemmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried lemon zest (or fresh if you have it)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried dill
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the green beans with the other ingredients. Place in a roasting pan and roast for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

Serves about 4.

Sesame-Garlic Green Bean and Pepper Stir-Fry

Frozen vegetables will never you give you that perfect tender-crisp texture you can get with fresh ones, but they still work remarkably well in many contexts, including stir-fries. This one was particularly good. Serve this over rice.

3-4 Tbsp dark sesame oil (divided)
1 lb protein of your choice (chicken, beef, tofu, tempeh...)
1 large onion, sliced lengthwise
10-12 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 - 2 lbs green beans, in 1-inch lengths (thaw first if frozen)
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips (frozen is ok)
1/4 cup soy sauce (divided)
2 tsp corn starch
Salt to taste
Sesame seeds (optional)

If using meat, heat half the sesame oil in a wok or very large skillet, then cook the meat. When it is done, remove to a plate or bowl.

Add the remaining sesame oil to the pan, then garlic and onion. Cook over med-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Pour a small amount of the soy sauce into the pan to deglaze, then add the green beans and pepper and stir-fry until cooked through, 3-5 minutes.

Stir the corn starch into the remaining soy sauce, then add to the pan and stir well. Let it bubble for a minute or so to thicken, then remove the pan from the heat. Taste and add salt if needed.

If desired, sprinkle some sesame seeds over the whole dish or each serving at the table.

Serves 4-6.

Green Beans with Shallots, Tarragon, and Olive Oil

With last year's hot, dry summer, the green beans in our garden produced like we've never seen before, and I froze 15 pounds of them. As it turns out, 15 pounds is quite a lot of green beans for a family of three. So we are slowly working our way through them, and green beans have definitely become my go-to vegetable side dish. Fortunately, they're delicious! And they are excellent with shallots, which I also have a rather large supply of, between our own harvest and what came with our fall CSA.

1 lb green beans, cut into 1-2" lengths
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

Thaw the beans if they are frozen. You can do this in the fridge, on the counter, or in a loosely covered bowl in the microwave (3-4 minutes on high).

Steam the beans (or, if you thawed them in the microwave, put them back in for another two minutes or so).

While you thaw and cook the beans, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the shallots and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir in the tarragon after a few minutes, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce over the beans and toss to coat. Serve hot.

Serves about 4.

Roasted Tomato Sauce with Green Beans and Bacon

A hearty pasta sauce with ingredients from the freezer. This makes enough for 2 pounds of pasta, so if you're not feeding a crowd you can freeze half for another meal.

If you need to peel frozen whole tomatoes, just run them under warm water and slip off the skins.

5 lbs whole tomatoes, cored and peeled (frozen is fine)
6-8 strips bacon, uncooked
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb green beans (frozen is fine, but thaw first)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of dried basil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the tomatoes in a roasting dish, then roasted for 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain in a colander, reserving the liquid.

While the tomatoes roast, fry the bacon in a Dutch oven. When it is done, drain on paper towels and pour off most but not all of the fat from the pot. Add the onions and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until nicely soft. Add the green beans and cook, stirring frequently, until tender.

Add the tomatoes to the Dutch oven and mix well. Add in a little of the reserved liquid at a time until the sauce reaches a nice consistency (you won't need all the liquid). Finely chop the bacon and add it to the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, plus a pinch of dried basil. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Makes 2-3 quarts.

Green Beans with Shallot Mustard Sauce

Happy New Year! As might be obvious, I've been away for the holidays. But now I'm back, and with a few recipes to share. This one was a major hit at Christmas dinner. I used green beans from our garden that I froze last summer.

1/4 butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 tsp spicy brown mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 lbs green beans, cut in 2-inch lengths (thawed if frozen)

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then add the shallots and saute gentle for several minutes. Stir in the mustard, then add salt and pepper to taste. Keep sauce warm while you cook the beans.

While making the sauce, steam the green beans until tender. Remove beans to a bowl and toss thoroughly with the sauce. Serve hot.

Serves 6-8.

Thai Curry with Beef, Peppers, and Green Beans

As the days get cooler, it starts become possible to imagine simmering something on the stove for an hour. September is our window to do this with summer veggies. Serve this dish over rice or, if you like, add beef stock to turn it into a stew.

2 lbs stew beef, trimmed into bite-sized cubes
2 Tbsp grated ginger root
1-2 Tbsp red curry paste
2 14-oz cans coconut milk (light is fine)
2 medium onions, sliced lengthwise
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 lb green beans, in 1- to 2-inch lengths
1 cup Thai basil leaves (optional but good)
Salt to taste

Brown the beef in a Dutch oven or other large heavy pot. Add the ginger and curry paste, then the coconut milk. Simmer over low heat for an hour or so, until the meat is tender.

Add the onions, peppers, and green beans to the pot, turn the heat to medium, and cook until tender, 5-10 minutes. Add the basil leaves and cook just until wilted. Add salt to taste and remove from heat.

Serve over rice.

Serves about 6.

Another Change in the Weather

Well, after posting last week about the sudden turn to cool weather and the seeming end of summer, I guess I was asking for it - it's been in the 90s all week and I'm roasting in my attic office. On the upside, the heat-loving veggies in the garden are having a delightful resurgence. Suddenly there are several eggplants ready, a burst of beans, and fast ripening tomatoes. The heat wave does seem likely to be short-lived, though, probably over by the weekend with a turn to more seasonable September weather.

In the meantime, I have several pounds of tomatoes and green beans that need to be dealt with in the next two days, before we go on vacation. With time being tight, I'll probably just freeze them all whole.

Freezing Green Beans

Like almost everything else in the garden this year, the pole beans are producing in abundance. I have frozen about 7 pounds so far and there are more coming along.

Green beans (or purple or gold...) are great to have in the freezer in the winter. They freeze well and can be added easily to a variety of dishes or steamed to eat straight. The freezing method is as follows:

Stem the beans and, if desired, cut or snap them into 1 to 2-inch lengths. Wash if needed. Blanch briefly (I find steaming in a large pot is the easiest way to do this but you can also use boiling water), then dunk or rinse in cold water to stop them from cooking further. Shake off the water as best you can, then package the beans in freezer bags, squeezing out all the air. I usually pack about 1/2 lb per quart bag - this is a good amount for adding them to stir fries or casseroles and if I need more I can just thaw multiple bags.

Summer Stir-Fry with Peppers and Green Beans

It was a little bit of a thrill to make this dish, full of garden veggies but without a tomato or zucchini in sight! I made this with chicken, but it would work with whatever protein you like - beef, pork, tofu, tempeh, etc. Serve this over rice.

1 lb protein of your choice
Canola oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced ginger root
2 medium sweet onions, sliced lengthwise
1 lb green beans, cut into 1-2-inch lengths
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapeno or other hot peppers, seeded and minced (optional)
1/4 cup soy sauce, or to taste
1 Tbsp corn starch (optional; for thickening)
6-10 scallions, chopped
1/2-1 cup Thai basil leaves

Cook your protein in a wok or large skillet, then remove from heat and set aside.

Heat a bit of canola oil in the pan, then add the garlic, ginger, and onion and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the beans, peppers, and hot pepper (if using) and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender.

Stir the corn starch into the soy sauce, then add the soy sauce, scallions, and Thai basil to the pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve over rice.

Serves 4-6.

Thai Red Curry with Beef, Potatoes, and Green Beans

The beef share we got in the fall came with a large quantity of ground beef. Great for tossing into pasta sauce or chili, but I've also been trying to come up with new recipes using it. This one worked out well. It's not fancy, but it's easy and delicious; humble but exotic at the same time. I added green beans because I had some in the freezer from last summer, and they worked well with the flavors and textures. But you could substitute whatever other vegetables you have available. You can find Thai curry pastes (usually green as well as red) in almost any grocery store these days. If you keep fish sauce on hand, a small amount would not go amiss here. Serve this over rice, preferably jasmine.

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef (thawed if frozen)
2-3 tsp Thai red curry paste
2 lbs potatoes, peeled, in 1-inch cubes
1 14-oz can light coconut milk
2-3 cups chopped green beans or other vegetables
1 Tbsp lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the onion and saute over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring frequently, until thoroughly browned. If there's a lot of fat, pour it off (if you're using local grass-fed beef, there probably won't be). Stir in the curry paste, making sure it is well distributed, then add the potatoes and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add the green beans and simmer until tender. Stir in the lime juice and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Serve hot over rice.

Serves 4-6.

Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Pot Pie

After a couple meals of leftovers that were exact repeats of the big feast, it was time for a meal of leftovers that at least took a different form. This pot pie made a big dent in what remained in the fridge--though now we'll also be eating leftover pot pie for another day. I love dishes like this because they are so flexible - throw in whatever seems plausible.

Turkey pot pie with biscuit top

In this case, I managed to use leftover turkey (of course), green beans that had been thawed but didn't make it onto the table, the remaining gravy, the remaining parsley potatoes, and some carrots leftover from the crudite platter. Oh, and the leftover pastry dough from the pies. To that, I added some onion and celeriac. The results were great and made the leftovers feel at least somewhat like something new.

Since the whole point of this is to use up whatever you have, it seems silly to give a precise recipe. Basically, you just want to combine cooked vegetables with shredded turkey and either leftover gravy or a quick sauce (make a roux, add milk or stock and simmer, stirring, until gravy-like). I added a little dried sage, figuring it would go well with the seasonings already present. Then top with either pastry dough (rolled out to 1/8-inch thick) or a biscuit dough. You could even use leftover mashed potatoes, for a dish halfway between a pot pie and a shepherd's pie. Bake at 375 for around 30 minutes, until the pot pie is bubbly and the crust is golden brown and cooked through.

Green Bean and Fennel Fried Rice

This used the last of the pole beans from my garden, along with some of the fennel that is still flourishing. It will be good later this winter, too, with frozen veggies. I made it with chicken, but feel free to substitute a protein of your choice.

1-2 Tbsp canola oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 lb green beans, in 1-inch lengths
3 cups chopped fennel (1 medium bulb plus tender stalks)
3 cups cold cooked rice
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
Salt to taste (if needed)

Heat about 1 Tbsp of oil in a wok or very large skillet. Add the chicken and stir-fry until cooked through. Remove to a bowl or plate.

Add a little more oil to the pan and add the garlic, onion, and ginger. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes, until the onions start to get tender. Add the beans and fennel and stir-fry for an additional 3-5 minutes, until tender but not soft.

Add the chicken back into the pan, along with the rice (separating the grains with a fork if need be). Stir in the hoisin sauce and soy sauce and stir-fry briefly, until the rice absorbs the liquid and is heated through. Taste and add salt if desired.

Serves 4-6.

Savory Grilled Green Beans

The pole beans in our garden are still producing, though they have slowed down considerably in the cooler weather. Still, I had enough collected in the fridge last night to make this, which we had alongside the lamb with parsley and garlic.

1 lb green beans, stemmed
olive oil
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the green beans in a bowl and generously drizzle with olive oil. Toss with the spices, salt and pepper, then let sit for up to an hour.

Grill beans in a grill basket over medium heat for 11-14 minutes, until just tender.

Serves about 4.

Roasted Balsamic Peppers and Green Beans

Sweet peppers and green beans (not to mention purple, yellow, and other colored beans) are still showing up plentifully at the farmers market. Enjoy them while they last! (And freeze some for later.) Red peppers combined with green beans make a nice visual effect here, but use whatever color peppers and beans you like.

2 sweet peppers, in long slices
1 lb green beans, stemmed
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Toss the vegetables with the other ingredients in a roasting pan. Roast, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking, until tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

Slow Cooked Green Beans and Tomatoes with Chicken

I made this in my crockpot, using beans and tomatoes from the garden. But you could also do it on the stove. In that case, I would roast the chicken separately. Use paste tomatoes so the end product is not too watery. If using the crockpot, you can put frozen chicken directly in at the beginning of the day.

Olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 lb green beans, stemmed
4-5 cups chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp marsala
3-4 cloves garlic, skins still on, partially crushed
1-2 large sprigs rosemary
6 chicken thighs (or equivalent)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in a small skillet and saute the shallot until translucent.

To make this in the crockpot, place beans in the bottom of the pot, then add tomatoes, shallots, marsala, garlic, and rosemary. Place the chicken on top of the veggies. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on Low for 7-8 hours. Remove garlic and rosemary before serving. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

To make on the stove top, use a large skillet or dutch oven for the vegetables. After sauteing the shallot, add the beans, tomatoes, marsala, garlic, and rosemary and simmer gently until the beans are very tender and the tomatoes are sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. While making the beans, roast the chicken in the oven.

Serves 3-4.

Grilled Dijon String Beans

It was definitely too hot to cook indoors last night, so I started thinking about grilling. We had a nice stash of green beans in the fridge that needed to be used. I had never grilled beans before, but the result was delicious. You need a grilling pan or basket for this, which I suggest acquiring if you don't have--they make for an easy way to grill all sorts of vegetables or anything else likely to fall apart or that you want to grill in small pieces. I served this with an herbed steak from Bostrom Farm and a salad of mixed greens from the garden with sliced plums from Clarkdale and feta from Chase Hill Farm.

1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbps olive oil
A few drops of sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 quart string beans (any color!), stemmed

Combine the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, and salt and pepper. Toss with the beans in a bowl 10-30 minutes before you plan to grill them.

Grill the beans in a grilling pan or basket over medium-high heat, stirring periodically, until tender (about 8-10 minutes).

Serves about 4.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner was at my house for the first time ever, and my sister and I did virtually all the cooking together. Fun all around. We managed to put together a menu that featured local foods as the main ingredient in every dish.

First of all, there was the ham from Bostrom's, of course. We baked it and covered it with a clementine-peppercorn glaze that was both sweet and deliciously savory and peppery. It went beautifully with the ham.

Then we served roasted local fingerling potatoes with dried figs and garlic, roasted local butternut squash with roasted garlic, maple roasted sweet potatoes from Red Fire Farm, and green beans that I froze this summer from the farmers market, steamed and served with sauteed slived almonds and butter. It was all fantastic. Everything but the green beans was a new recipe for our holiday table, and I think a few will be repeated in future years.