Frugal Organic Girl

Garlicky green beans are an easy and healthy side dish to make!

Ingredients:

• 10-12oz frozen or 3/4 lb of fresh organic green beans
• 1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
• 4 clove of garlic, minced or grated, divded
• 6oz pkg whole organic crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2 tsp dried and crushed or one whole fresh sprig of rosemary, chopped
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Prepare the green beans by steaming or defrosting frozen..See note1 below on preparation methods
2. Add olive oil to a medium or large skillet (depending on how many green beans you are using); heat oil until shimmering but not smoking in the pan.
3. Add sliced mushrooms and one clove of garlic; saute’ until lightly golden brown.
4. Add green beans, crushed dried or fresh chopped rosemary leaves, salt and remaining garlic and heat until just warmed through.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note 1:

For fresh green beans:

If you are using fresh green beans de-string them, wash and gently steam them until they are just turning bright green and plunge them into a bowl of cold water with ice cubes (aka ice water bath) to stop the cooking. Once beans are cool, drain water and set aside.

For frozen green beans:

Gently rinse the beans in cold water to defrost, drain water and set aside.

Here’s another great dip, appetizer and or sandwich bread you can add to your repertoire. It’s quick and easy to make with either your food processor or by hand using a fork or potato masher.

Ingredients:

• 1 15oz can organic garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained or 2 cups soaked garbanzo beans, drained
• 2-4 tbsp roasted tahini paste (start with 2 tablespoons add more to taste)
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled (start with 2 cloves add more to personal taste – we like lots of garlic)
• 1/4 c lemon juice (start with 2 tablespoons, add more to taste, we love lemon juice), from one whole lemon
• kosher salt to taste

Method:

Pour drained beans into bowl of food processor, add tahini paste and garlic cloves. Pulse to create a course meal, add lemon juice and salt if desired.

If you don’t have a food processor you can mash the beans with a fork or potatoe masher, until it reaches the texture you desire.

Variations: Add roasted garlic for a sweet deep mellow flavor, or add roasted sweet peppers for another dip or spread.

This a great make ahead pasta sauce, sandwich spread, appetizer dip or a flavorful garnish on any veggie based soup. I made up this recipe to help me deal with the ‘abundance’ of spinach I am often left with via my weekly CSA box in the spring and summer. This also freezes beautifully in ice cube trays, and can be stored in Ziploc baggies or hard sided containers for long term storage. It will last in the fridge for about 3/4 days.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 cups or 4-6 heaping handfuls of organic spinach
• 4-6 cloves of organic garlic, peeled
• about 2oz of fresh organic basil or 2 tsp dried basil (optional)
• 1/4-1/2 C raw walnuts ( depends on how thick and creamy you want it, add more nuts for a thicker texture)
• 1 whole lemon juiced ( about 1/4 c fresh lemon juice)
• 1/4-1/2 C Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil, plus more to store it.
• 1/4-1/2 C grated hard cheese ( Parmesan, Romano, Grana Padano)

Method

1. Add spinach, garlic and basil to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until it resembles a course mealy texture.
2. Using a 1/4 cup measure dump the raw walnuts and lemon juice into the feeding chute of your food processor and pulse to combine with spinach garlic mixture. Add the last 1/4 cup of walnuts to processor if desired.
3. Slowly stream in extra virgin olive oil into the chute of the food proccor 1/4 cup at a time, pulsing to combine with spinach garlic mixture. Add remaining extra virgin olive oil if desired and grated hard cheese. Pulse just enough to combine mixture. *
4. When storing pesto in a container, pour a little extra virgin olive oil over the top to seal in the moisture so the pesto does not dry out.

* For a thinner sauce add low sodium/low fat chicken or veggie broth until desired texture is created.

Yield: 2.5-3 cups thick pesto sauce or 5-6 cups thin pesto sauce