Do you ever find yourself in one of those moments where you just have no idea what to do next and you find yourself unable to do anything at all? That is exactly what happens to me when I am trying to plan meals for the week. Especially when I don’t have a lot of time and I need to go to the grocery store.
That was the scenario a few weeks ago. It was Sunday afternoon, and I was sitting on the couch with my hubby (He was watching baseball… I was not.) trying to come up with a meal plan so that I could run to the grocery store and get the shopping for the week out of the way. It was a good idea in theory. But, I stared at a blank piece of paper for about an hour and a half. Then, I flipped through a few cookbooks, went through the starred items in my RSS reader, and even peered into the fridge. Nothing was inspiring me, and after an entire afternoon, I was no closer to having a meal plan, and I certainly wasn’t ready to head to the grocery store.
Since it was close to dinnertime, I finally came to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t be getting my grocery shopping done. Not wanting to waste any more time sitting on the couch, I decided to just make the best of the ingredients I already had in the fridge – green beans. Green bean casserole in the middle of August didn’t sound good to me. I’ll be honest… Green beans in any form didn’t really sound good to me. I wanted a burger and fries. Then, it hit me… I could turn the green beans into fries.
That “light bulb” moment was all that I needed… I immediately got to work blanching the green beans, setting up breading stations, and roasting garlic for a dipping sauce. (After all, what good are fries without some sort of sauce?) I was back in the game.
Admittedly, this is not the quickest way to get rid of green beans. I wouldn’t say that the recipe is difficult… But, it is a bit tedious. If you ask me, breading just about anything is tedious… So, individually breading a whole bunch of green beans can be a bit much. But, it’s worth it. It certainly takes boring beans to a whole new level. Serve these green bean fries up with a grilled sandwich or a burger, and you have a dinner that is sure to please the whole family.
Baked Green Bean Fries with Roasted Garlic Dipping Sauce
(Serves 2 – 4)
For the fries:
- 8 ounces green beans, trimmed
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the dipping sauce:
- 1 small head of garlic, roasted and smashed into a paste
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick liner, and set aside.
To prepare the fries, begin by blanching the green beans. Submerge them in boiling water for 2 – 3 minutes until they are bright green but still a bit crisp. Immediately transfer the green beans to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Then, lay them out on a clean towel and pat them dry.
Set up the three breading stations in three shallow bowls. Place the flour in the first bowl and the eggs in the second bowl. In the third bowl, combine the bread crumbs, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Season all three bowls with salt and pepper, and give each one a quick whisk to make sure the seasonings are evenly incorporated.
Dip the green beans first in the flour, shaking off any excess, and then in the egg. Then, toss the green beans in the bread crumbs to coat evenly and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Be sure to place the green beans in a single layer, leaving some space between them so that they bake evenly and get nice and crunchy.
Bake the green bean fries for about 15 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Meanwhile, prepare the dipping sauce. Wisk together the roasted garlic paste, mayonnaise, olive oil, and Dijon mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve the fries immediately with the dipping sauce on the side.
This is one of the only way I will eat green beans! My kinda dish.
I love my green and yellow beans crunchy and this just takes it to a entire new and delicious level.
looks awesome! So funny, I was planning to do this with asparagus in the spring, but ran out of time. I will have to try green beans. and zucchini. :)
i know my husband would just love this:) thank you for sharing and have a nice day.
I just did a bunch of greens beans a couple of weeks ago that I thought were the best…but now I’m questioning that big time. I can see that these would be a bit of a hassle but oh my so worth it good too!
Beautiful! The fries themselves look fabulous, but then dipped in that sauce with a whole head of roasted garlic…oh my!
It’s like a deconstructed green bean casserole. Love it!
love. these. making them tonight!!
Very easy recipe for green bean. I am going to try this out next week!
Oh my. I was just looking for a green bean recipe for tonight! This is perfect and I have all of the ingredients! Thank you, can’t wait to try these!
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try it out! Thank you so much for such great inspiration!
I’m not a huge green beans fan (didn’t grow up eating them either) but these look outstanding! Thanks for sharing :)
This looks soo yummy crispy ! I would never thought of making beans this way ..
Very clever way to prepare green beans in a healthy way and satisfy your crunch cravings all at once! Thanks for the recipe!
I am swooning here. I was looking for the link to share on twitter (i’m making your hummus right now; it’s a snack kind of night in our house), but this is just genius- the green beans have so much character this way. Just beautiful.
You can’t go wrong breading anything in my opinion :) I’ll have to try this next time I have some green beans on hand.
This recipe sounds like da bomb!!!! Can’t wait to make it…thank you so much for posting it!
Oh my good gracious – way to get people to eat their greens!
Simple as can be…and outrageously good! Inspired idea. We just finished supper and we and kids (4 and 2) LOVED them. Didn’t hurt that we were lucky enough to be able to pluck beans from the backyard!
Made these tonight…AMAZING! I’m on a diet and have been craving fries…these were PERFECT!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Gosh! That’s exactly how I’m feeling at this very moment. A little stuck. And then I came across this fantastic post and I’m feel empowered… all because I know that others are going through the exact same thing as me. And, I must add, because these “fries” look outstanding and would no doubt be a huge hit at a party.
I have got to – must – this instant – dont care that its 8 am – try these. I love green beans any way I can get them, but I’ve never seen them baked with a coating. Go to the grocery store now. Wait, I need to get out of my PJ’s first… then the store. ;)
They look delish and by calling them “fries” might even get some picky kids to take interest.
Hi there! I made these when you first posted the recipe and I absolutely loved them. So good and the green beans make an excellent and healthy vehicle for garlic dipping sauce. I’m all about the garlic and mustardy dipping sauce. I can definitely see why these are one of your most popular recipes of the year. They’re in my permanent recipe collection. Have a wonderful 2012!
I made these this weekend for my mom’s birthday party. They disappeared so quickly. My teenage stepdaughter even enjoyed them, and she hates vegetables. My only caveat… we had to triple the garlic dipping sauce, our family wanted to put it on everything. Extremely delicious. Thanks.
This is wonderful! My daughter tried these for Christmas and we all (even the kids) loved them. Thanks for sharing!
Yummy! I know what I’m making tonight with the beans I got from the farmer’s market. Thanks!