Thursday, May 01, 2008

Antidote

I love sugar and butter and cream and cream cheese....all those delish ingredients that are hard on the arteries. Reading many, many, many Daring Baker blogs over the last few days that were full of the cutest cheesecake pops made me want to make another batch. An antidote to all that sugar had to be found.

So reason prevailed. There is a little BACON in this dish, so it's not super healthy, but it's not full of cream cheese, either.

If you want a great side dish that goes together in a snap, tastes savory and wonderful - hey, it has BACON - and would be good any time of year, look no further.

This recipe came together after I checked the fridge. The mushrooms were starting to get a little brown, the seasonings were easily found, and it has BACON so it must be good :)

Steamed Green Beans with Mushrooms and Bacon
Serves 2-4

2 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, diced or sliced into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
16 oz whole frozen green beans
water

In a cast iron skillet or non-stick frying pan, saute' the bacon until crisp, but not burnt. Remove to a piece of paper towel to drain.

In the bacon drippings left in the pan, saute' the mushrooms 2 minutes, stirring often. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat another 2 minutes to release some of the juices.

Uncover the pan and sprinkle the mushrooms with the herbs. Stir to combine. Cover and continue to cook another minute over medium heat.

Uncover and add the frozen beans and about 2 tablespoons of water. If the mushrooms have released a lot of liquid, just use 1 tablespoon. Cover, bring heat up to high, and cook another 4 minutes, stirring half way through. Uncover, add the bacon pieces and stir.

Taste and add salt (if needed...with the bacon you might not) and black pepper to taste.

Serve at once, nice and hot.




7 comments :

  1. I think the bacon does make it healthy. :)

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  2. I agree bacon makes the world go round. I'd put it in everything if I could. Your beans looks delish.

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  3. So was that "goes together in a snap" meant to be a pun? Made me laugh. This is simple and a good side dish and if you use the low sodium bacon it's really not bad for you in moderation.

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  4. My mom always put bacon in our green beans growing up. Granted, they were always canned green beans, but bacon made them better! What a great dish this is!

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  5. I just made string beans with prosciutto last night. Great minds, huh, Elle? :) When you get a minute, come on over to my blog--there's award waiting for you.

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  6. As a general rule, I prefer not to eat green beans WITHOUT bacon.

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  7. I just love your blog, i'm from Portugal and i have a blog in portuguese and translator,
    http://receitas-nani.blogspot.com

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