Tag Archives: Cooking

Finger-lickin' Roasted Green Beans

Hello my friends!

As a continuation of my Tasty Kitchen recipe-snatching rampage, I bring you these green beans. They are adapted from this recipe, and originally called “Roasted Green Bean Fries” because they kind of taste like French Fries.

I call these ‘finger-lickin” because I consumed well over half a pound of these with much licking of fingers in between grabbings. So if you thought ‘finger-lickin” was just a cute phrase, please also know that it was a messy and delicious reality. And unsanitary, too, if you believe in cooties.

Under normal circumstances, I estimate they would serve 3 adults as a side dish. However, anything this delicious simply cannot be categorized under the header ‘normal circumstances,’ so to be safe I would assign 1/2 lb to each human being.

Quick warning: the first time I made these, I used a blurp of olive oil without measuring. I mean, who actually measures out their cooking oil? Well, my ‘blurp’ turned out to be waaay too much, and the green beans were quite oily. Delicious as well–don’t get me wrong–but just too dang oily. So take a second and measure out that teaspoon–it really makes a difference. You’re going for a very thin coating here.

Ingredients

(Serves 3)

1 lb fresh green beans

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt (1/2 tsp = too much)

1/2 tsp pepper

Optional: freshly squeezed lemon juice or spicy dipping sauce

Preheat the oven to 425. Wash the green beans, snap off the stems, and put them on a baking sheet.

Pretend I took a picture of me pouring in the teaspoon of olive oil and tossing them about.

Add the salt . . .

. . . and the pepper.

Now get your hands in there and get ’em dirty!

Toss those babies until they’re all evenly coated. Here we go.

Bake them for 15 minutes, turn them over, and bake them for another 15.

Serve! If you’re trying to dress them up as a treat for the kids, serve ’em with ketchup for the illusion of fries. You can also add a little more salt to taste if necessary. For the adults, you can squeeze on some lemon juice for a punch of freshness to the ole buds.

Or you can serve them with a fun spicy dipping sauce such as this one–that would be fanstastic. Any way you spin it, they’re delicious.

And they also couldn’t be easier. I was inspired to write this small poem about them. I dedicate it to my husband, with whom I promise to share these green beans til the end of time:

I’d eat these green beans day or night

I wouldn’t share without a fight;

they’re tasty, green and oh so great

I’ll pile them high upon my plate.

But since I’m married to this man

whose name is neither Cran nor Stan

I’ll share them so I don’t get fat

forever and ever and ever. Stat.

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Spicy Tuscan Soup

In the beautiful realm that is Tasty Kitchen (I know, it’s like I’m addicted) this recipe has gotten rave reviews time after time, and after staring at its mug on the internet for any number of months, I finally did my duty to mankind as well as to my own palate and made it.

And am I ever thankful that I did.

I figured if it was anything like Olive Garden’s Tuscan soup, it would be pretty dang good. Well, it surpassed even my loaded expectations.

Let me break it down to you real simple-like. In five words: Love, adoration, creaminess, love, creaminess.

Five adjectives? Spicy. Hearty. Satisfying. Flavorful. Delicious.

Five verbs? To eat. To sigh. To crave. To devour. To repeat.

After making it for the first time and failing to photograph it, I immediately made plans for making it again. So here is take 2, which I will hereby refer to as “Take Awesome.”

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

1 lb spicy breakfast sausage (I used Jimmy Dean’s hot sausage)

1 red onion

3 slices bacon

5 cloves garlic

3 medium sized red potatoes

1 quart chicken stock

3 c roughly chopped kale leaves

1/2 c heavy whipping cream

Salt and pepper, to taste (go heavy on the black pepper)

Good evening, ingredients! (It’s always important to say a kind ‘hello’ to the ingredients–it makes them ever so much more cooperative.)

Step one: grab that sausage.

Tear it into rustic chunks with your fingers. I tried to make them all about the size of a meatball.

Then lick your fingers.

Just kidding! Please don’t obey me blindly. Except when I tell you to send me things–like a sample of that batch of cookies you just made. In that case, don’t question me. Or else.

Toss the sausage into a hot Dutch oven, and cook it over medium high heat until cooked through (about 10 minutes).

You’ll have to give it the occasional stir to make sure the pieces get browned all over. Remove the sausage to a plate and set it aside. But don’t worry–we’ll meet again.

Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and dice the bacon. Aren’t red onions just beautiful?

Make sure when you snap the picture that the bacon is completely out of focus. Check.

Add the bacon to the Dutch oven, and cook over medium-high for 5 minutes.

Soon it will start browning and your salivary glands will be activated.

Just direct your streams of drool away from the pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

Wash the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and then slice them into half-moons (1/4” slices).

Now let’s return to the Dutch oven, and pour in that chicken stock.

Toss in the potatoes too, while you’re at it.

Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, and test the potatoes for doneness. You want them to be almost done–but not quite.

In the meantime, wash and roughly chop the kale. My grocery store was out of their supply of kale–with the exception of these prewashed, prechopped bags. My hand was forced! In Take 1, I dealt with kale in its natural state. But in Take Awesome, the work was all done for me. I have mixed feelings about that.

So back to business: once the potatoes are almost-done-but-not-quite, add the heavy cream . . .

. . . the reserved sausage . . .

. . . and the kale.

I like lotsa lotsa kale. Plus, it wilts down just like spinach. So what looks like ‘lotsa lotsa’ will actually become a healthy, moderate amount.

It’s also the right time to add copious amounts of black pepper. Taste the soup and season it to your liking.

Simmer it for another 5 minutes, stirring to incorporate everything.

Grab a ladle, and let’s serve it up.

Some buttery chunks of garlic bread wouldn’t be amiss at all. No sirree.

I love how this soup is full of ‘stuff’–it means that each bite is a fun adventure in flavor and texture. Just look at what this spoonful turned up.

If I haven’t made myself clear, I highly, highly recommend this soup.

But the only thing that will fully convince you of the awesomeness and wonder of this soup is actually making it. So what are you waiting for? Grab your grocery list! Add the ingredients! Hop to it!

Thanks for letting me order you about–it may happen quite frequently on this blog. It helps give my bossy older sister tendencies a good airing.

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