Iron Heart Personal Training

There are a few dishes that are in heavy rotation in my kitchen. And they oddly all seem to involve the same magic trilogy :

roasting

salt/pepper/garlic powder

vegetable

I swear you could roast just about anything, and it would be absolutely delicious!  We’ve all given kale a go, roasted broccoli (with toasted walnuts, shredded fresh basil and a squeeze of fresh lemon??! yum!), roasted cauliflower (with parm and lemon!), roasted brussels sprouts, roasted carrots (thyme and butter), mmmm, they are all so good.  But my fav??!!  Well, it has to go to the lowly green bean!  One night while making homemade hamburgers and french fries for my family, I decided I wanted some fries too!  Checked the crisper, nothing really called to me, rifled through the deep freeze until I came across a bag of frozen beans.  (A $1.50 bag of beans, I have to add, because I’m nothing if not budget-conscious!  I love economical goodness!)  So I didn’t even thaw them, just dumped the bag out onto my beloved Pampered Chef baking sheet, tossed with evoo, sprinkled with garlic powder, salt and pepper and then let ’em get to work, and OH my goodness, my newest go-to veggie treat was born!  And wouldn’t you know, little Westin forgo his “real” french fries and chose to steal as many of mine as he could, they were that good!

Roasted Green Bean Fries

Ingredients

1 lb-ish Green Beans (fresh or frozen, thawed or not)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Chili Flakes

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss fresh, frozen, or thawed beans with olive oil on a good baking sheet (I love love love my Pampered Chef Stoneware Pan, it is wonderful) and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper and chili flakes if you like some heat.  Roast in oven at 400 degrees for about 25-35 minutes, depending on your beans – if they are still frozen, they’ll take a little longer, if they are thawed, they’ll be quicker, so watch them carefully after that 25 minute point.  Give them a toss about half way through.  Roast until browned and slightly shriveled and a little bit crunchy in some parts….I love a lot of texture, and these do the trick for me.  Kind of crisp, kind of chewy, salty, oily goodness 🙂 ….that also happens to be low carb, low cal, good for you AND satisfying.  Win!  Dip in Red Hot or  a homemade ketchup or even a vinaigrette, I bet you will not miss “real” potato fries one teeny bit!

This recipe is a good size portion for two people….unless you’re like me…and eat all of them yourself 🙂  That’s cool too 🙂  If you’re going to have to share with your family, perhaps double up the amount of beans!

Health benefits of Green beans

Check out the nutrition stats!  These little guys are powerhouses of goodness! Super high in fiber, lots of vitamins and nutrients but really low in calories and carbohydrates.

• Fresh green beans are very low in calories (31 kcal per 100 g of raw beans) and contain no saturated fat. Nevertheless, the lean vegetables are a very good source of vitamins, minerals, and plant derived micronutrients.
• They are very rich source of dietary fiber (9% per100g RDA)which acts as a bulk laxative that helps to protect the mucous membrane of the colon by decreasing its exposure time to toxic substances as well as by binding to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon. Adequate amount of fiber has also been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels by decreasing reabsorption of cholesterol-binding bile acids in the colon.
• Green beans contain excellent levels of vitamin A, and health promoting flavonoid poly phenolic antioxidants such as lutein, zea-xanthin and ß-carotene in good amounts. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.
• Zea-xanthin, an important dietary carotenoid in the beans, selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes where it thought to provide antioxidant and protective UV light filtering functions. It is, therefore, green beans offer some protection in preventing age-related macular disease (ARMD) in the elderly.
• Snap beans are a good source of folates. 100 g fresh beans provide 37 µg or 9% of folates. Folate along with vitamin B-12 is one of the essential components of DNA synthesis and cell division. Good folate diet when given during preconception periods and during pregnancy helps prevent neural-tube defects among the offspring.
• They also contain good amounts of vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine), thiamin (vitamin B-1), and vitamin-C. Consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals.
• In addition, beans contain healthy amounts of minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium, which are very essential for body metabolism. Manganese is a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure.