Lily's Maple Bacon Green Beans with Slivered Almonds

I'm almost embarrassed to put a green bean recipe on here, but a couple of people have come over and tasted the ones I make for Lily and asked how I made them.  Seriously?  Green beans?  This is food I grew up with... coming from a country family in South Louisiana.  But anyway, here are Lily's favorite green beans.   I have a list of about a handful of folks who have told me that they never would eat green beans until they tried them this way.  Wow!  I am blown away and super excited about that.  These are really fresh and delicious.... and I hope you'll try them, too!

I should preface this with saying that I can not stand to eat green beans out of a can.  They just have that canned "weird" flavor.  So we ALWAYS use fresh green beans.  Secondly, this gives Lily about 20 minutes of "snapping" time, where I can focus on some other aspect of the meal.  Also, if you have a recipe where your kids will eat practically half a pot of veggies, you embrace it!!! 

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Ingredients:

• A big bag of green beans.. picked fresh
• Several (maybe 4-5) pieces of maple flavored bacon
• A handful of diced onion
• A handful of sliced almonds
• Flaked sea salt, large restaurant pepper, garlic powder

Step-by-Step:

Start a pot of water to boil for the beans.
Trim the fresh green beans - just the very tips.  You can snap these if you like, but I personally prefer to leave them long.  I think they look a lot more elegant.

1 pound of fresh green beans

Cut the bacon into lardons - about 1/2" pieces.

Cut the onions into a small dice.

While the beans are boiling, saute the bacon over medium-high heat until about 3/4 done.  It's important that you do NOT put the onions in with the bacon at the beginning.  If you do, the water in the onions will prevent the bacon from browning and crisping properly.

3 - 4 pieces maple bacon, chopped into 1/2 " pieces

Once the bacon is almost crisp, add the onions.

1/2 cup chopped onions

Saute the onions with the bacon until soft and translucent.

The water is boiling now.  So add the green beans.  We want to cook them until they are about 90% done.

At that point, drain the beans.  I find a kitchen spider to be the best thing to use.

Add the beans to the sauteed bacon.

Turn them all around so the bacon fat can coat each of the beans.  Now season them up with kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

kosher salt

black pepper

garlic powder

Allow them to cook a couple of more minutes so the flavors can all meld together, then add a handful of sliced almonds. 

1/4 cup sliced almonds

These gorgeous beans are ready to serve now!

The beans should still be firm, not mushy, salty, maple'y, peppery, crunchy from the bacon and almonds, sweet from the tender onions.   Mmmm!  enjoy!
 

Lardon is a small strip or cube of pork fat used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory foods and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by threading them with a needle into meats that are to be braised or roasted. Lardons are not normally smoked, and they are made from pork that has been cured with salt.

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I hope you have enjoyed this recipe.  If you'd like to see more of what we cook around here, please visit my Recipe Index.  There are tons of ideas on there of things you can cook for/with your family.

Also, Please be sure to visit my YouTube Channel for short video tutorials on selected videos.  Watch me explain the steps of the recipes in just a few minutes!  Just one more way that I'm giving you the tools to get in that kitchen!!! Aren't you curious?  Click and see how many there are!  :)

Here's just one example -Ham, Caramelized Onion, and Gruyere Quiche.  Yum!!

Here are a few bonus recipes for you:

Dill and Sun Dried Tomato Cucumber Rolls

Rosemary Black Pepper No-Knead Artisan Bread

Maple Mustard Glazed Chicken

Steamed Asian Dumplings

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

Written Method:

• cut the bacon into "lardons" - about 1/2 inch pieces
• cut the onions into a small dice
• find a kid to snap your beans - the size doesn't really matter
• start a pot of water to boil for the beans.
• once boiling, add the beans until they are about 90% done.
• drain the beans when they reach this point.
• while the beans are boiling, saute the bacon over medium-high heat until about 3/4 done.
• It's important that you do NOT put the onions in with the bacon at the beginning.  If you do, the water in the onions will prevent the bacon from browning and crisping properly.
• once the bacon is almost crisp, add the onions.
• saute the onions with the bacon until soft and translucent.
• add the drained (blanched) green beans to the crisped  bacon and onions.
• adjust seasonings by adding salt, pepper, garlic powder and slivered almonds.
• stir the beans into the bacon mixture to ensure that a little of the maple bacon grease has coated all of the beans.
• cook for maybe a couple of minutes more for the flavors to incorporate, then remove from heat.
• the beans should still be firm, not mushy, salty, maple'y, peppery, crunchy from the bacon and almonds, sweet from the tender onions
• Mmmm!  enjoy!