Roasted Green Beans

With spring in the air, my children and I have been working on our vegetable garden.  There is just something very satisfying about planting a garden and watching it grow.  Knowing that you helped to create something that is not only good for you, but for your family as well.  It also gives my children a sense of accomplishment, knowing that they helped to grow some of the food that we eat. 

They were a huge help with me and my husband this year in planning where our garden was going to go and just how it should look.  Then they all gathered around and help to plant the seeds of some or their favorite veggies; like lettus, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and of course beans.  Green beans to be exact.  Every year these are the favorite vegetable to plant and every year more often then not, these are the first things picked right off the vine and eaten before they even make it into the house.  These are the one vegetable that no matter what I can get all three of them to eat.

All three of my children love green beans, but it is my oldest one who loves them the most.  She would eat green beans every day if I let her.  She is a vegetable lover all the way, but she has a weakness for green beans.  She is not very picky about how they are made, and will always be happy if they are on her plate, but by far her favorite way, and I have to admit it is both my husbands and mine as well, is to have them roasted. 

I decided to try them this way, when I noticed that my kids, along with not only my entire family, but also my nieces and nephews, loved roasted asparagus.  We would make the asparagus as a side dish for family gatherings, and they would disappear faster than you could imagine.  Most of the time the if the adults did not take what they wanted first, they were not getting any.  I have to admit I never imagined that kids would take to something like roasted asparagus, but they not only took to it, but devoured it as well.  The kids just loved them and it got me thinking that maybe they would like other veggies roasted.  So after some trial, and not a whole lot of failure, I came up with this.

Now I know that roasting green bean, or any other vegetable for that matter is not something new, but this is just my take on the idea.  This is the way that my family loved them, so I decided to share.

What you need:

About one pound of fresh trimmed green beans
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Roasted Garlic and Sea Salt (if you don't have this, Garlic Salt works just as well)


Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
Clean and trim the green beans
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (this makes for a much easier clean up)
Place the green bean on the baking sheet and toss with the Olive Oil and Garlic Salt.  How much of the Garlic Salt is up to you.  It really all depends on how you like it.  For my family the more garlic flavor, the better.
Then place them in the oven for 20-25 min.
Once done remove and serve hot.

I can tell you that there is NEVER any left over in my house between my daughter and my husband, these a truly a family favorite.  They make a great side dish and I have even made them as an after school snack for my kids. 

Happy roasting and ENJOY!