I didn’t start eating vegetables until my late twenties. My mama tried. Heck, I tried. But most of the veggies that came across my plate made me gag. The first vegetable that I ever had any hope of eating was the green bean. It must have been one of three reasons:

1. I looked like a green bean.

2. My uncle convinced me green beans would make my bust line grow. {Don’t judge.If you had been twelve and looked like a green bean you would’ve wanted your bust-line to grow too.}

3. Mr. Green Jean’s from Captain Kangaroo was so nice I wanted to eat green beans.

Since your not reading this to delve into the psychology of why I eat green beans how about if I just share an amazing way to prepare them? If your garden is anything like mine the beans are growing like gang busters. If your not a gardener your local grocer or farmers market is sure to have them. This recipe calls for bacon (everything is better with bacon), a few onions and garlic. Round these items up and your ready to get started!

Green Beans and Bacon

Snap and clean the beans. (I snap both ends, some folks snap only the end with the stem.) I clean them with a dual wash. The first time is in a sink full of cold water with a touch of vegetable wash added. Then I place them in a colander and rinse them well with cold water only.

While the beans drain start on the bacon. Our tribe goes a little heavy on the bacon. You can use and much or as little as you like. For a pound of green beans I cut up roughly 8 large strips of bacon. Place the bit size pieces of bacon in a frying pan. Let the bacon start to sizzle. Next dice a small onion and then add to the bacon. If you like, press one clove of garlic and add that as well. Once the bacon and onion have begun to sizzle add the beans.

Periodically stir the ingredients while they simmer. Allow approximately 20 to 25 minutes for cooking. Be sure to allow the temperature to get high enough to brown and caramelize the onions (without burning it of course!).

We just made these again last night. Since my timing was a bit off (the potatoes were still cooking) I put them in an iron pan and kept them in the oven on the lowest setting possible. Heaven help us if they over cook and become soggy!

(The caveat with eating food fresh from the garden is that the DoAheads may be limited. In this case your best DoAhead will be to pick and prep your beans in advance. You can bag the beans and keep them chilled in the fridge for a day or two but bottom line, nothing beats the flavor of food that’s been harvested, cooked and served all in the same day!)