Recipe #5 - Roasted Haricots Verts

Beans - before & after



Haricots verts - that's green beans, y'all!  This is the easiest side dish recipe you will ever make.  I promise.  You can actually roast any kind of non-starchy veg with fantastic results - artichoke hearts, asparagus, zucchini, summer squash, turnips, etc.  Just watch your veg & adjust the time to make sure that it doesn't burn.  Fresh veg roasts faster; frozen veg takes longer.   Turnips are actually an AWESOME substitute for potatoes (yes, I'm that old that I learned to spell it T-O-E-S).  This preparation is SOOOO good with cauliflower; it becomes a close facsimile of deep fried Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cauliflower which is so addictive and with a lot less effort/mess.  Not so great with broccoli, though.  Don't know why.  It just seems to burn up rather than caramelize.

Ingredients:

• non-starchy veg, frozen or fresh
• olive oil
• sea salt

1)  preheat oven to 400F
2)  fill 8"x13" baking dish with frozen haricots verts to the rim (young green beans, which are more tender - tenderer??? - than the grown-up version, but they'll do, too)
3)  drizzle olive oil & spinkle with sea salt to your taste
4)  toss the beans to distribute oil & salt (I use my hands)
5)  bake in the oven until beans are soft & toasted on some edges, tossing once after ~15 minutes, i.e. half way cooked (this time use tongs, please)