Oven Roasted Green Beans

On any given day here in our household, anything green won’t be eaten by the kiddos and sometimes even by the husband.

What is it about the color green that turns folks off?

It’s quite sad that it’s gotten such a bad rep when it’s one of the most nutritious colors to eat. This just makes the challenge for cooks like me to make those things that are green taste good enough to eat. Both of my girls wouldn’t touch green baby food. You know, those green peas and green beans all pureed and mushy. I can’t say that I blame them. I don’t think I’ll be indulging in a big ole jar of mushy green peas myself. When we went to England, that was a common side dish there. Of course I had to try it while I was there. But I was over it after my first taste.

With a bag of frozen green beans in my freezer, I decided it was time to use those babies up. I went for the roasting option hoping that they would taste good enough for the family to enjoy. After all, they always like my roasted broccoli and roasted cauliflower.

I started by parboiling the green beans straight from frozen. I wanted to get them thawed and mostly cooked and then finish them in the oven. I was surprised at how quick these cooked.

Then I drained them and spread them out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. A little olive oil, salt, and pepper and into the oven they went.

After a nice stint in the green bean sauna (I know my analogies are ridiculous), they came out just perfect. Just roasted enough that some of them had a crunch, but still soft like you’d expect.

And what would make anything roasted taste better than parmesan cheese? Not a thing. A good sprinkling of that and you are set with the tastiest green beans this side of Mason Dixon Line.

When I was finished with these, I took one of them to my picky daughter for her approval. She gave me a look when she saw how green it was and I was fully expecting her to pass on the taste test.

Then it came….

She let out a “mmmmmm”. And I knew I was onto something. We had these with our dinner and they were a big hit.

Even though they were green. 🙂

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