Eating more healthfully often comes down to planning and using leftovers in a creative way. I often hear my friends say that they made a big pot of spaghetti or a big pot of hamburger stew and plan to use it all week. I almost never hear someone say that they cooked up a big pot of green beans or I roasted two heads of cauliflower for the week. Most often that I because many of us are afraid of what to do with leftovers. So this week let’s start with a couple pounds of green beans.
2 Lbs. of green beans ends sniped and cut into 1 inch pieces
½ of a dry onion diced
1 slice of bacon diced
2 C water
Place the diced onion and bacon in a very large frying pan or sauteuse and sauté until the onion is soft. Add the green beans and 2 C of water and simmer covered until tender. Stir occasionally and add water as necessary. Cooking time 10 minutes more or less. Don’t overcook.
Now you should have plenty of beans for dinner, but what about tomorrow. Cold green beans make a great salad. Toss some of your cold green beans with chopped parsley and dress with a drizzle of white wine vinegar and flavored olive oil. I like hot pepper olive oil. My wife likes basil olive oil. You might like a little Dijon mustard, plain olive oil and chopped herbs like basil, parsley or cilantro. If you have fresh tomato in the garden, chop one and add that to your salad or use diced red and yellow pepper. The point is this, you don’t need a recipe and you should never get tired of those leftover vegetables. Enjoy.
Ken Corliss, OD
Board Certified, ABO (253) 845-0585