I have recently become a big fan of roasting vegetables as a nice rustic side dish for heartier meals. Today's recipe comes from my Thanksgiving dinner (a bit delayed in the posting, yes). Rather than the "traditional" green bean casserole doused in soup, I wanted something with more of a bite and less heavy, since Thanksgiving meals are already so good at weighing us down without an added casserole masquerading as a healthy veggie side dish.
The setup is simple. Veggies, olive oil, garlic, spices. I roasted some root veggies for Christmas (sorry no pics) and followed the same system (carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, garlic, olive oil, sage).
For this preparation I took fresh green beans with both ends chopped off, fresh scallions cut to the same length as the green beans, a couple tablespoons of minced garlic, fresh sage (~30 whole leaves), dried thyme (~2 tsp), and dried rosemary (~2 tsp). I drizzled with olive oil (probably about 2 - 3 tbsp) and mixed until everything was lightly covered.
Lay the beans out on an oven rack and bake in a 400 degree oven for an hour. Every 10-20 minutes or so I went through and tossed the beans with tongs to move them around on the tray so there was even cooking.
And that's it! Once done you have some nice caramelization on parts of the beans, a good balance between crisp and "soggy" bites, and a good foundation for any of the gravies or sauces you'll be serving with your entree rather than coming to the party with its own sauce.
