Green Beans with Lemon & Garlic

Kitty FloridoDecember 7, 2010

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We’re going to have Christmas Eve dinner at home, along with the family, about 15 people. So, instead of being adventurous, with my mom we decided to test out some recipes first.

For Sunday lunch, we had Green Beans. We wanted to make something different with them, replacing the classic Green Bean Casserole which is creamy. So, browsing around we found this recipe from The Neelys and thought it was perfect.

The original recipe calls for red pepper flakes, but since we didn’t have any around we replaced that with ground Cayenne pepper and added a bit of bell pepper for color. The recipe came out great and we also saved a bit to re-heat on Monday night.

We want to know also which recipes we can prepare ahead the day before so we save time on Christmas Eve. It came out perfect! My only advice would be to be precise with the cooking times so the Green Beans do not overcook. Since you’re reheating, that under cooking will make the Green Beans stay crunchy. This is a perfect side dish for any meal!

Green Beans with Lemon & Garlic
Recipe adapted from The Neelys, Food Network
Yield 6 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon of bell pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Blanch green beans in a large stock pot of well salted boiling water until bright green in color and tender crisp, roughly 2 minutes. Drain and shock in a bowl of ice water to stop from cooking.
Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the butter. Add the garlic, bell pepper and ground cayenne pepper, saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans and continue to saute until coated in the butter and heated through, about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.