Shake-and-Bake Green Beans (EXPERIMENTAL)

This recipe was inspired by a Safeway frozen food side dish. The beans came out too dry and chewy, so the recipe below is what I think is right, but we are still experimenting.


Ingredients:
1 bag of string beans, with ends cut off
1 bag of Shake and Bake
1 egg, mixed
1 tbsp milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Parboil string beans for 5 minutes. Set aside, cool, and dry.
Mix egg with milk. Dip string beans into the egg wash. Pour Shake-and-Bake onto a plate. Toss the beans in the Shake-and-Bake mix to coat. On a greased foil-lined pan, place the string beans in a single layer and bake for ten minutes. Serve with Green Goddess Dressing as a dipping sauce.

Ellie Krieger's Green Bean Salad

What a delicious recipe! This recipe seems very healthy, with the smallest amount of dressing I've ever seen on vegetables. But it works! The other flavors (the earthiness of the toasted walnuts, the bite of the red onion and vinegar, and the fresh, sunny flavor of the parsley) all marry well with the crunchy green beans. Here is the link.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp chopped red onion
2 tsp walnut oil or olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water with a steamer basket to a boil, add green beans and steam for about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Toast the walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat until they become fragrant, about 2 minutes, and then transfer them to a small bowl to cool. Add the parsley and onion to the walnuts and stir to combine.

In another small bow, whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard. Toss the dressing with the green beans, top with the walnut mixture and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baked Coconut Curry Chicken

I cannot rave enough about this curry! I have finally found my go-to Indian curry recipe, after decades of looking. This recipe comes from the blog, checkitoutavesta.



Ingredients:2 1/2 lbs chicken (boneless, skinless thighs)
1 can coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth
2-3 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash and pat dry the chicken with a paper towel. Pour the chicken broth and coconut milk in a baking dish then lay the chicken in the broth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle the rest of the spices all over the chicken and broth.

Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, carefully remove the foil and turn chicken and mix up the broth mixture so the coconut milk breaks up. Put the baking dish back int the oven uncovered for another 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and very tender.

I cook this chicken a little longer than necessary because I like the thighs ... to sort of shred and since the chicken is in a broth, it does not dry out with the extra cooking time.

Once you remove the baking dish from the oven, carefully pour the sauce into a saucepan and add 1 tbsp butter. Mix using a whisk, bring the sauce to a boil and whisk till smooth and reduced. Taste the sauce to make sure it is spicy enough for your liking... if not... add more cayenne pepper and curry powder. Serve chicken over rice and pour the sauce over the chicken and rice.

Adrienne's Note:

When you are reducing the sauce on the stove, you can also add in diced curried hakurei turnips (recipe here) and French beans that have been cut into one-inch segments and parboiled for five minutes. This way the curry is a little more complex. You can also shred up the chicken thighs then throw them back into the sauce to combine all of the flavors. I topped this curry with cilantro leaves and served it over white rice.