I miss having a garden of my own. It’s particularly sad because there’s nothing better than beans or tomatoes fresh from the garden.  Thankfully, we have a local farmer who sells lovely produce from his garage at the best prices in town.

As we were driving near his home one day we decided to stop in to see what he had out.  To my delight he had some freshly picked yellow beans. We’d bought both green and yellow beans from him before, and had already  had some steamed and some sautéed with olive oil and garlic, so I was looking for something new to try. I came across this recipe from Paula Deen. It sounded like a great complement to our chicken drumsticks and oven-roasted taters (also from his farm, by the way).

• After washing and trimming my beans, I heated (at medium) some olive oil in my pan (I skipped the blanching step in the recipe).
• I added my beans, covered the pan and cooked them until they were almost tender-crisp.
• I used my handy-dandy micro planer (as mentioned in an earlier post, it is a favourite kitchen gadget) to grate one very large clove of garlic also from said farmer), I gave it a quick toss and let it all hang out for a couple of minutes.
• Before serving, I gave them a twist or two of salt and pepper, a small spoonful of honey,and a generous splash of balsamic vinegar.  Another toss and that’s it…pretty simple.

My Love wasn’t particularly fussy on the honey, and I’d use more garlic next time and maybe some onion. But overall is was a quick and tasty vegetable side that’s just a little different.