Saturday, April 15, 2017

Roasted Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Onions with Parmesan Breadcrumbs

A while back, our family had a fruit and vegetable CSA allotment. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, which is a program where you purchase the produce directly from a local farm.   The CSA provided me with an opportunity cook more vegetables.  I created a "CSA Challenge," which pushed my culinary abilities by cooking dishes that included beets, turnips and sweet potatoes.

For this challenge, I had green beans.  My typical side dish for green beans is to blanche them for a couple of minutes to preserve their color, and then saute them with a little butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Occasionally, I add some slivered almonds.  While this side dish does the trick, especially when you do not have a lot of time to cook a meal, I wanted to try something different. I wanted to prepare the beans with ingredients that I would not typically think of when I am pondering green bean recipes.

I came across a recipe that included, among other things, mushrooms and "parmesan breadcrumbs."  Neither ingredient is one that, at least for me, I would generally associate with green beans.  So, I decided to make this recipe.  The result is a rather colorful dish, with the different colored green beans, the red onions and the brownish mushrooms.  The parmesan breadcrumbs add a "crunchy-ish" kind of texture that gives a hint of parmesan cheese, which helps to make this dish work.  


ROASTED GREEN BEANS, MUSHROOMS AND ONIONS
WITH PARMESAN BREADCRUMBS
Recipe adapted from Delish
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of green beans, trimmed
1 medium red or yellow onion, sliced into rings
8 ounces of cremini mushrooms, sliced
8 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Juice from 1 lemon.

Directions:
1. Prepare the vegetables and mushrooms.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  On two rimmed baked sheets, arrange green beans, onions and mushrooms.  Toss each with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until deeply browned, about 30 to 35 minutes.  

2.  Toast the breadcrumbs.  In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add breadcrumbs and oregano and cook, stirring constantly until breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan.

3.  Finish the dish.  Squeeze lemon juice over roasted vegetables and top with Parmesan breadcrumbs.

ENJOY!

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