Nana's Famous Green Bean Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make Paula Deen green beans? ›

Add green beans to pan and sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add boiling water to pan and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, just until beans are tender. Add vinegar, butter and salt and pepper and stir.

The vegetable helps fight inflammation and is a good source of folate and potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure. Green beans also are a good source of protein and fiber, which helps lower cholesterol, Vadiveloo said. "Fiber is underconsumed by U.S. adults and children, and it's good for gut health," she said.

You can saute them in some fresh herbs, warm them in a bit of vegetable or chicken stock and a squeeze of lemon juice, add some crispy lardons of bacon or some caramelized onions. There are lots of possibilities. Do taste them before adding salt, as most canned vegetables already have too much salt added.

Your Beans Will Cook Faster

Well, creating an alkaline (or basic) environment by adding a small amount (about 1 teaspoon per cup of dry beans) of baking soda to your soaking/cooking water can actually help your beans cook faster.

A little butter, minced garlic, and lemon-pepper seasoning are all you need to bring the best out of fresh green beans.

Put a pan of salted water on to boil. Meanwhile, trim the the beans. Once the water is boiling, steam or boil the beans until tender. Drain well, then tip the cooked beans into the bowl with your dressing and toss everything together, making sure all the beans get coated.

Then, I toss the blanched beans with olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and salt to pep up their flavor. Serve them just like that, or dress them up more with toasted almonds or pine nuts, grated Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, or fresh herbs like basil, parsley, or thyme.

Green beans are full of fiber, which is an important nutrient for many reasons. Soluble fiber, in particular, may help to improve the health of your heart by lowering your LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) levels. The fiber in green beans helps to keep your digestive system healthy and running smoothly.

Lectins are proteins present in green beans that help bind carbohydrates. Lectins cause digestive problems such as nausea, vomiting, bloating, and diarrhea. Cooking beans neutralizes the lectin, making them safe to eat, improves taste, and increases antioxidant levels.

Is it OK to eat green beans everyday? ›

Eating fresh or cooked green beans regularly as part of a balanced diet usually does not cause any significant negative effects in most people. Green beans are low in calories, high in fiber, and contain various vitamins and minerals, like vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate.

As for herbs, woody types like thyme, sage, and rosemary, are also great — add those in with the beans and water. I always add bay leaves at this stage, too, since they bring that herbaceous can't-put-your-finger-on-it flavor.

Toss drained/rinsed/dried beans with a bit of olive oil (or avocado oil) and your favorite seasonings. You can add crushed whole seeds (coriander, cumin, fennel, mustard, etc.), woodsy herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage), red pepper flakes, crushed garlic cloves, and of course salt and pepper.

You'll typically find them in restaurants served alongside chicken or steak. Green beans are available all year round, though you can find them fresh at most local farmers' markets from around May to October. A cup of raw green beans contains 34 calories, 2 grams of sugar and is full of fiber (15% of your daily needs).

Steaming green beans gives them the same crisp-tender texture as blanching or boiling. Yet I think it preserves their lovely green color and allows the home cook more control over their texture than with those other two methods. Steaming is easy, too—and ease is what this recipe is all about.

Should I Soak Green Beans Before Cooking? Fresh green beans do not need to be soaked. To help tenderize the beans, blanch them in a large pot of salted water.