August 11, 2011- Marinated Chicken & Home Grown Green Beans

Yes, it's been a very long time since I blogged.  And, no, I am not going to get caught up.  But, tonight's dinner was such a hit that I had to write about it.  I've just been too busy to keep up with a daily blog.

In May, my parents came to town and helped build two raised garden beds in our backyard.  They gave them to me for Christmas.  I have had some successes and some failures in what I chose to plant.  The spinach was a big failure.  The plants came up quickly, and then bolted just as quickly.  The plants never got big enough to harvest from.  One tomato plant just didn't make the transplant.  My broccoli was attacked by worms and then aphids.  We'll see if they ever produce anything to eat.  The lettuce came up quickly, and then just sat there, unproductive.  I'm not sure it will ever grow enough to harvest.  

Our success has come from the herbs, green beans, green onions, carrots, and, to some extent, strawberries.  I've had to cut the cilantro back over and over again.  Right now I am letting it go to see to see what coriander looks like:)  Our carrots continue to grow.  I'm not a big carrot eater, but Katie and Ben like them.  I figure we can donate what we don't eat to the food bank.  The green onions are healthy and growing.  Our strawberry plants have been producing sweet fruit, just not a ton.  

Tonight we harvested five strawberries and enough green beans to feed our family. I planted two kinds of green beans--pole and bush.  Katie and I picked a few of each variety tonight.  After tasting both, I have decided that the pole beans are too stringy for my liking.  Next year, I'm sticking with the deliciously sweet bush beans.  Here's cute Katie with our harvest:)

And, here's how I prepared the green beans:

GARLIC & PEPPER GREEN BEANS

Directions:

1.  Add trimmed green beans to a skillet of boiling water and cook for 3-5 minutes, until tender crisp.

2.  Remove beans and set aside.  Dump out the remaining water.

3.  Return the skillet to the burner on medium heat.  Add a little butter and a little olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

4.  Add diced garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, and a couple dashes of red pepper flakes.  Saute until garlic starts to brown.

5.  Return green beans to the pan and toss in the garlic, pepper oil, cooking for another minute.

I also served grilled chicken breasts that I marinated in Grill Mates Tomato, Basil and Garlic marinade this afternoon.  Grilled on Direct Medium heat for 9-10 minutes, the chicken was almost perfect:)