I love adding bacon to vegetables! It just kicks things up a notch. The balance between the fresh green beans and lemon juice in contrast to the richness of the garlic and bacon make for some pretty amazing fireworks of flavor in your mouth. This recipe is pretty quick, easy and so delicious! Not to mention, it instantly beautifies your plate. Your friends will be so impressed!
Why do you Blanch your Beans?
Isn’t fun to add unnecessary steps to cooking? I just love making my meal prep last forever! Hopefully you sensed the sarcasm. I used to think blanching your veggies did two things, reduced cooking time in the skillet and just made the veggies look vibrant and pretty. However, Brett from The Green Thumb White Apron shares this amazing nugget of knowledge, “It’s necessary to blanch green beans because it stops enzyme actions which can cause a loss of flavor, color, and texture.” I couldn’t have said it better myself, which is why I quoted this awesome guy!
Another great perk to blanching your green beans, is that it cleanses the surface, makes the bean’s color pop and and helps retain more vitamins. Check out this blog to find out more about “Blanching your beans”!
Make Sure to Cook Bacon First
I like to cook bacon first. Some of you might think, why not just toss it all in at the same time? I cook the bacon separately because I don’t want to overcook the bacon (hard and chewy bacon is no bueno!) and also I can use the rendered fat from the bacon to cook my garlic and beans. This allows the beans to be infused with that delicious bacon flavor. Following these simple steps will enhance flavor and texture. Trust me, it’s totally worth it!
Garlic Green beans
Ingredients
- 3 cups green beans
- 4 strips bacon
- 2 garlic cloves
- dash lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start to boil a pot of water (this will used to blanch the beans)
- Meanwhile, chop the beans, dice the garlic and slice the bacon into small strips.
- Cook the bacon in a cast iron skillet/ pan. Remove the bacon and place on a plate with a paper-towel. The paper-towel will soak up all the excess fat. Set aside.
- One the pot of boiling water has come to a rolling boil, place the beans in the pot for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a bowl with cold water and ice.
- Cook the garlic in the cast iron/ pan with the bacon grease for only a minute or so. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Then add the green beans (strain them from the ice water bath) and cook for a minute. Lastly, stir in the bacon pieces, add a dash of lemon juice and cook for another minute or two. Add salt and pepper then Enjoy!
Great Products that I love!
A Great Knife for all your Dicing, Slicing and Chopping Needs
This Knife is absolutely amazing. It is pricey but we don’t really use our other knifes very much. We saved up our amazon gift cards we received from Ibotta and were able to purchase this awesome knife. I highly recommend it. It is an investment but it makes dicing and slicing so much easier!
Great Cast Iron Skillet!
This Cast Iron skillet really makes a huge difference when I’m browning meat or when I saute vegetables. The skillet elevates whatever I cook because it gives it almost a little char that adds so much flavor!
This page contains affiliate links. This means that if you click a link and buy one of the products on this page, I may receive a commission (at no extra cost to you!) This really helps me keep creating content! This doesn’t effect my opinions or my reviews. Everything I do is to benefit you as the reader, so all of my reviews are as honest and unbiased as possible.
[…] Garlic Green Beans […]