Baked Green Bean Fries

As a child, there were a lot of things I refused to eat for no apparent reason. For example, tomatoes. If I ordered a salad at a restaurant, I always took out the cherry tomatoes and gave them to my mom. But thankfully, my taste buds have matured as an adult, and now I love all tomatoes, especially as a snack sprinkled lightly with sugar (my favorite way to eat them). I mentioned that I never ate cauliflower until recently. And it only took me until two years ago to fall in love with green beans.



While I was in Paris, I stayed at a hostel that made us Korean food for breakfast and dinner. Every meal was wonderful. There were side dishes and entrees that reminded me of home and then there were a few other dishes that I wasn't familiar with but I thought were still tasty. One dish that I particularly enjoyed was a simple stir fry of green beans, eggs, and ham. Before this, I had eaten only frozen green beans and hated it so I was baffled that I actually liked this dish. Then I realized that the green beans I was eating were fresh so no wonder!



For these fries, I had only half pound of green beans, so I used 1 egg and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs. I actually didn't even use the whole egg, so 2 will definitely be enough for a whole pound. I also dipped the beans into the breadcrumbs one by one instead of throwing everything into a ziploc bag to get even coverage on my fries. I'll have to mix in some spices next time to make these even tastier. And maybe try panko breadcrumbs too.

Baked Green Bean Fries
From Heather's Dish

1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed and with ends trimmed
3 eggs, whisked together
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Optional spices: chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, Greek seasoning, or your favorite spice!

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray.

Add the breadcrumbs to a large ziploc bag, along with the salt and pepper and spices. Dump the green beans into the egg mixture and, using your hands, coat all of the beans with the egg. Add the coated beans to the ziploc bag, seal, and shake to coat with the breadcrumbs. If needed, add more breadcrumbs.

Turn out the contents of the bag onto the baking sheet and spread the beans evenly. Bake for 10 minutes, then gently turn the fries to evenly bake. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes until breadcrumbs are browned and crisp. Serve straight from the baking sheet with whatever sauces you like to dip in!

After baking let the beans cool a bit before piling on top of one another. This will keep them crisp and insure the breading stays on them!

Tahini Green Beans

Much Ado is over! I have a mix of emotions about this. It's sad that I won't see the cast every night, but it's also very exciting that my evenings are not swallowed up by rehearsals. For Friday's show, 98 people showed up and on Saturday, 60 showed up. Both nights were big crowds, considering we are a pretty new student organization on campus. The show was also great both nights. We've gotten compliments more than ever. It's been such a blast. But there's going to be a cast dinner and then a cast party so I'll still be able to see the wonderful cast members.

Now that I've got time, hopefully I will be able to cook more. I got started right away today. I saw a housemate making green bean, tofu, and rice stir-fry last week and thought to myself, "I should really eat some more green beans." So when I came across this recipe and saw how easy it was, I wanted to make it. I also need to make sure I eat a variety of vegetables so I do not get sick of them. It's been a while since I've had green beans, so this was good.

The recipe originally is called Sesame Green Beans, but I don't have a mortar and pestle and I didn't think there was anything else available that would give me a paste when I grind the sesame seeds. I have a lot of tahini I want to use up, so I thought I should replace the sesame seeds with the tahini. I know it wouldn't be the same taste, but the combination of tahini and miso still turned out pretty tasty. Paired with fresh green beans and this dish was delicious! This will definitely be making frequent appearances.



Tahini Green Beans
Adapted from Asian Supper

- Handful fresh green beans
- Salt
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp sugar, or more to taste
- Splash of warm water or dashi, if you have it
- Sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Wash the green beans and trim the ends. Bring a pot of water (just enough to cover the beans) and add a little salt. Bring the water to a boil and toss the beans in for just a minute or so. Quickly remove and wash with cold water and let cool in a strainer.
2. Combine the miso, tahini, sugar, and water (or dashi), taste and adjust.
4. Chop beans in half or into 1-2" segments. Mix with the sauce paste thoroughly. Dole out into individual servings in small dishes and garnish with sesame seeds.