Four Steps to Perfect Green Beans

I always thought I hated green beans.  Growing up we had them only one way: straight from the microwave into the freezer.  As an adult, and as a vegetarian, I've tried to find more vegetables that I like and that means trying the really weird looking or sounding ones, weird smelling ones, and ones I hated as a kid.

Last summer I discovered that I really do like green beans!  I had just not cooked them right before!  Sorry, Mom...

There are FOUR easy steps to the perfect green beans:

1. Rinse and trim your beans

2. Boil for 3-4 minutes

3. Plunge them in an ice bath 

4. Saute with enough olive oil and garlic (a little or a lot, your choice), season with salt & pepper 

    *Optional, add red pepper flakes in step 4 to kick it up a little.

When you blanch a vegetable, you are just halting the cooking process by boiling for a brief time and placing the veggies in ice.  You can keep them in their ice bath for a little while if you've got other things cooking.

This is the best way I've found to cook green beans.  Now I've got to step up the other parts of my dinner!