vegetables Archives - Pennywise Cook

January 4, 2013 by amy 2 Comments

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. 🙂

Oven Roasted Green Beans

Recipe Type: Side Dish, Vegetable

Author: Pennywise Cook

Try a new take on everyday green beans by popping them into the oven to roast. Here’s how!

Ingredients

16 oz Pkg Frozen Extra Fine Green Beans
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°.
Bring pot full of water to boil. Add green beans and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and dry.
Lay green beans on baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a flat layer.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and toss. Return to oven for additional 5 minutes.
Top with parmesan cheese and serve immediately!

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Oven “Fried” Squash And Another Reason I Don’t Like Bees

I absolutely cannot grow a squash to save my life. I started a little garden for herbs and a few veggies earlier this spring and for some reason, mother nature refuses to help me produce even one sign of a squash in my garden. I checked out Google and the only explanation that I can come up with is that we have no bees. Well, at least no bees that want to help me grow some squash. The bees have to transfer pollen to the blossoms while they are open in the mornings in order for the blossoms to produce a squash. Apparently the bees around here don’t like me and don’t want me to have yummy squash this year.

I see them flying around all happy and landing on the weeds, probably pollinating the weeds in place of my squash. Forgive me, I’m a little bee bitter right now…

On a less bee-hater note, Aldi does have great prices on squash and my in-laws have a bountiful garden that we get veggies from. So I don’t have to go without. I love my squash fried, but you know me and my frying. Unlike Nike, I just don’t do it. I usually try to find a way to make things taste fried without the actual frying process. This recipe gives you exactly that!

See how crunchy they are? If you bake them too long, they are almost like chips because they are so crunchy. But you won’t have that problem because you’ll bake them just right.

They are oh so yummy. These definitely satisfy that hunger for “fried” squash. I got this recipe from that cookbook that I told you about the other day and come to find out this particular recipe came from a cookbook from 1983! Southern Living’s Cook Light.

Only 64 calories per serving and worth every one.

Oven “Fried” Squash

Recipe Type: Side Dish, Vegetable

Author: MTEMC Company Gifts of Christmas Cookbook,

Crunchy, tasty “fried” squash from the oven.

Ingredients

1/2 c. Cornmeal
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
2 Egg Whites
1 Tbsp Water
3 Medium-sized Yellow Squash, cut into 1/4 in. slices
Cooking Spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine cornmeal, salt, and pepper. Set Aside.
Combine egg whites and water; beat well.
Dip squash into egg and then dredge into cornmeal mixture.
Lightly coat a baking pan with cooking spray. Place squash in a single layer.
Bake for 30- 40 minutes turning once.

Notes

Ok here are my notes on this one:

I would use LESS pepper than this calls for. It was a little spicy with 1/2 teaspoon if you ask me. You might even use a different spice like paprika in it’s place.

I considered my squash to be medium-sized, but I could fit only 2 of them on my pan. You may not really need 3.

I ended up needing more like 1 cup of cornmeal so have more on-hand in case. There was plenty of egg whites, however.

30 minutes was too long. I would say more like 10 minutes, then flip and then another 10 minutes. Or perhaps reduce the temperature.

Enjoy!

Oven Roasted Green Beans

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Oven “Fried” Squash And Another Reason I Don’t Like Bees

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