Irish Bacon & Bean Stew (with Barley & Beer)

I'm really on my Irish kick lately. It's not often I'm not around this time. Why? Not only because I have a lot of Irish in my blood, but it's because I continue to research & get inspired by Irish fare to make traditional dishes (as authentically as I can) or to create an Irish spin on a meal that could be served in the Emerald Isle.

Pardon me, another moment, while my Irish continues to show thru... (my list of Irish & Irish-like fare, HERE)

I was thinking about some Irish dishes, like Colcannon (find my recipe in this post HERE), but with a healthier spin (hope to have a recipe for that when I've tried it), and then I got thinking about the greens used in it, and what could be substituted.
That led me to thinking about the greens I use in my NEW YEAR'S HAM & BEANS (a twist my usual LAZY COOKER HAM & BEANS).
What if I did an Irish spin on ham & beans??

Something to think about is the fact that Irish bacon is actually more of a cured piece of ham, much like Canadian bacon. So a great substitute is cured pork belly. I also found that Navy Beans are pretty typical in that part of the world. I could totally do a ham & beans stew, lazy cooker Irish style!
(I'm also including a stove top "hot pot" style, too.)

Here's what I did:

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IRISH BACON & BEAN STEW

with Barley & Beer

Ingredients:

* 2-3 lb cured pork belly, trimmed or pork shoulder
* 1 lb bag dried navy beans
* 1-2 can(s) navy beans, drained & rinsed
* 1 lb potatoes, lightly scrubbed & diced
* 32 oz chicken stock/broth (you can use pork, beef or vegetable stock/broth, too)
* 1- 2 12 oz bottles/cans Irish stout/ale,can or bottle (I used a bottle of Boulevard Irish Ale)
* 1 C apple cider
* 1 C pearl barley
* 2 T honey (local or Irish honey - I used Irish honey with Jameson whiskey)
* 1 handful coleslaw mix (with carrots)
* 1 sweet onion, diced
* 2 C turnip greens or curly kale, shredded or torn into small pieces
* 1 medium to large parsnip, scrubbed & diced
* 2 medium to large carrots, scrubbed & diced
* 1/2 C brown sugar
* 2-4 bouillon cubes (I used chicken, but you can use beef or pork)
* 1 T liquid smoke (optional)
* seasonings: ground pepper, thyme, caraway seeds, marjoram, parsley, dried chives
* 2 bay leaves


Directions - Lazy Cooker:

~ Soak dry beans in beer & water (or all beer), about 1 inch over the beans, for about 8 hours in a tightly covered container; or soak overnight in water 1 inch above the beans in refrigerator in a container with a tight-fitting lid
     ** If using all beer from 2 containers of the beer, use the reserve of the 2nd container in the stew

~ Once beans are soaked, spray the insert of your lazy cooker with cooking spray

~ Drain & rinse the beans; sort thru them to make sure there are no pebbles; if you find any, discard the pebbles

~ Add the rinsed beans to the lazy cooker insert

~ Take your trimmed pork belly, then add to the lazy cooker (I had some leftover cedar plank smoked ham I augmented with the pork belly)

~ Add in the barley and all of the root vegetables

~ Add in all the seasonings, bouillon cubes, brown sugar, honey, and liquid smoke (if using)

~ Pour in all of the liquids over the beans, pork belly/ham, barley & veggies

~ Place the 2 bay leaves on top of the mixture

~ Close the lid of the lazy cooker

~ Depending on how long you have, either set the lazy cooker to low for 6-8 hours OR set on high for 4 hours

~ Open can(s) of navy beans; drain & rinse

~ After the first round of cooking times, open the lazy cooker lid, remove the bay leaves, add the rinsed canned navy beans, stir, breaking up the pork, then add the bay leaves back & cook on low for 4 more hours OR on high for 2 hours

~ In the last 45 minutes to 1 hour of cooking, open the lid of the lazy cooker, remove & discard the bay leaves, add in the leafy green pieces & coleslaw mix, stir, and close the lid until done

~ After the cooking is done, give one more great big stir & get ready to ladle into bowls

~ Garnish with a little bit o'parsley, and eat it up



Directions - Stovetop:

~ Soak dry beans in beer & water (or all beer), about 1 inch over the beans, for about 8 hours in a tightly covered container; or soak overnight in water 1 inch above the beans in refrigerator in a container with a tight-fitting lid
     ** If using all beer from 2 containers of the beer, use the reserve of the 2nd container in the stew

~ Once beans are soaked, spray the inside of a Dutch oven or heavy stock pot with cooking spray

~ Drain & rinse the beans; sort thru them to make sure there are no pebbles; if you find any, discard the pebbles

~ Add the rinsed beans to the Dutch oven or stock pot

~ Take your trimmed pork belly & add to the pot (I had some leftover cedar plank smoked ham I augmented with the pork belly)

~ Add in the diced onion

~ Add in the barley

~ Add in all the seasonings, brown sugar, honey, and liquid smoke (if using)

~ Pour in all of the liquids over the beans, pork belly/ham, barley, onions & seasonings

~ Turn up the heat on the burner, and bring the stew to a boil

~ Once boiling, turn down to low to begin simmering, and place the 2 bay leaves on top of the mixture

~ Put the lid of the pot (hopefully it has one) onto the pot to cook, at a simmer, for about 2 hours

~ After 1 hour of cooking, remove the bay leaves & set aside, then add in the potatoes, carrots, and parsnips; place the bay leaves back on top, and put the lid back onto the pot, slightly askew, and continue simmering for another hour

~ Open can(s) of navy beans; drain & rinse

~ In the last 30 minutes of cooking, open the lid, remove & discard the bay leaves, add in the canned beans, coleslaw mix and leafy green pieces, stir, and close the lid until done

~ After the cooking is done, give one more great big stir, making sure the pork is broken into pieces & get ready to ladle into bowls

~ Garnish with a little bit o'parsley, and eat it up

Tip: You can use hulled barley, just soak it overnight, like the dried beans, and add it in

Yield: approximately 8

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This is a dish that would work so well for St. Patrick's Day! So much more Irish in this inspired dish than Corned Beef & Cabbage could ever dream of being.
(I saw it put that Corned Beef & Cabbage is as Irish as spaghetti meatballs, and as American as apple pie. Stew on that. <<< Yep. I just said that.) And no worries about the stew being served to the kiddos. The alcohol of the beer gets cooked off in the process.

I usually serve up my ham & beans with cornbread (as it should be), but with this dish being Irish-inspired, I highly recommend a beautifully traditional and super simple Irish Soda Bread (which only has 4 ingredients), like my lazy cooker version, HERE.

OK...I cheated a little. That's shredded carrot in there. Just because I had it.
And I forgot the canned beans because I was distracted. Still really good!

This is a perfect dish for a cold night or for when you need to feed a slightly larger crowd. And a fabulous comfort food!

Sláinte! 
(That's an Irish toast to "Good Health"!)

ENJOY!

New Year's Day Dishes

So it's a New Year. You've been told you need to eat things like:
          Black Eyed Peas/Beans
          Pork
          Greens
          Circles

Amm-i-rite?

Now you've got those kiddos (or adults) who scrunch up their nose at you at the very thought. Right? We've all got 'em.

I enjoy making a one-dish-covers-all kind meal. And you can put those extra things in there without being full on detected. Much like the NEW YEAR'S HAM & BEANS I make. Seriously, there are some who wouldn't eat black eyed peas or kale (like I used last year), but when I put them in the ham & beans, those same people went back for seconds!

Happened this year, too. So glad! A newbie to my ham & beans said they were pleasantly surprised by the vegetable addition. And I added in extra dark red kidney beans as well as using collard greens instead of kale. Still so good...

You know, if you don't want to do ham & beans, I know some who will put these things into a chili! You can add bacon bits to the chili to cover the pork, too!

OK, I'm going to admit something to you. Until the beginning part of last year, I'd never heard of a thing called Hoppin' John. Seriously. Have you? Since it apparently involves rice, I thought of it as another option for those who don't want full-on ham & beans!

So I began to research. You know what I found out? Americans can sure screw things up! I found a lot of "traditional" Hoppin' John recipes out there, but as I dug further, I discovered it's not actually spicy & doesn't have a bunch of extra ingredients! It's also not supposed to be mushy. It's just simply supposed to be bacon (or ham or sausage) in beans & rice, cooked together, adding each ingredient at a different time. The only seasoning is maybe a little salt & some pepper. It's should be served with a side of collard greens, but since I'm a one-dish-covers-it kind of gal (remember?), I thought I'd add in some of the collard greens with the Hoppin' John.

Also, you can have small red peas/cowpeas that are basically red black-eyed peas! BOOM! Now they are interesting to look at, too.

Dried small red peas/cowpeas...see the black eyes??

Since I have a non-pork eater, I thought I'd add in some liquid smoke, butter, and then some turkey bacon bits. No, it's not pork, but we still worked in the bean & greens thing. So, there's that. And? My daughter LOVED it!! I asked her if I should add in some of the extra veggies & spices others have done, and she said no! She loved the comforting taste & feel of the dish. YAY! This is coming from a girl who doesn't even like beans...but she had several bowls of it! YAY!

Simple, non-pork Hoppin' John

I also had an idea! I had a wonderful, "awful" idea! Stay with me...

Since we have already been trying to eat better around here, and with the running my hubby & I have been doing, I really wanted a dessert that we could really enjoy, yet not feel horrible about! Many of the after-workout protein bars are already like a candy bar, so how could I give an awesome protein follow-up punch to a good run? BROWNIES! Right?

If you know me, you know I will celebrate about ANY holiday to the hilt! It's food, attire, activities, color schemes...everything. With the new year ringing in within hours, I was planning how this year could be different than last year.

Last year I became fully aware of the "Color of the Year," put out by Pantone (go figure), for the defining color of the new year...even with the definition!
Our family began a new tradition, last year, of starting the new year with a casual get-together with great, positive people while enjoying edible new year's traditions together. It was delightfully uplifting! I also decided to use the 2014 color of the year, Radiant Orchid, to decorate a tree with for display. We took down our other trees, but I left up a little tinsel tree adorned with purples, pinks, fuchsias...all in the Radiant Orchid color palette. It was a lot of fun to have up. So, we decided to renew the tradition for 2015!

The Color of the Year, from Pantone, is Marsala! Yes, like the wine. A deep, robust & earthy red-brown. It's very lovely. So I decided to focus on the color for this year's gathering. I left up a small tree to decorate in a lovely deep red with golds & greens, feathers & sparkle. It's rather elegant.

Along the same color lines, I decided to find more for the edible portion of the holiday. Much like those red black-eyed peas being a perfect fit! I'm also added those dark red kidney beans to the ham & beans, along with the Hoppin' John, of course, for the same reason. So why stop there? Why not with the brownies, too??

For the first time, this past year, I heard about bean brownies. Yes...the brownies where you add a can of black beans (or cannellini beans, etc.) to a brownie mix, or homemade brownie batter, for a fiber-filled, protein-filled yummalicious treat! Or so I've heard...
Well, I decided I would make a protein-packed, fiber-filled red velvet cake brownies!!

How can you go wrong with ingredients like these?



Here's what I did...

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RED VELVET PROTEIN BROWNIES

Ingredients:

* 1/2 lb. dried small red peas/cowpeas, soaked, drained & rinsed
* 1 can dark red kidney beans, NOT drained
* 1 C red quinoa
* 5 C water
* 1/2 C plain non-fat Greek yogurt (vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt for sweeter taste)
* 1 box red velvet cake mix
* 1 pkg fudge brownie mix
* 1 bag chocolate chips (dark best, but any will work) OR 1 bag peanut butter chips; divided
* 1/4 C natural creamy peanut butter (if not using peanut butter chips)

** Used a food processor and standing mixer for this recipe


Directions:

~ Soak dry beans in water, placed in the fridge, for about 8 hours

~ Remove beans from fridge, drain & rinse (check for pebbles)

~ Place drained & rinsed beans in a medium saucepan, then cover with 5 C water


~ Bring water in saucepan to a boil, then lower burner to low & cover with lid (kept tilted) and allow to simmer until beans are tender (abut 1 1/2-2 hours)

~ In the las 30 minutes of the beans cooking, add in the quinoa (you can rinse if you'd like, first - I didn't)

~ Once beans are cooked thru & the quinoa has expanded, take off the burner to cool for several minutes (may have standing water...which is OK)

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

~ When the bean & quinoa mixture has cooled significantly, transfer to the bowl of your food processor

~ Open the can of dark red kidney beans, and add all contents into the food processor

~ Turn on the food processor (I used the chop setting) until mixture is a creamy consistency

~ Stop the process, open the food processor, then add the Greek yogurt

~ Close lid & start the food processor back up to incorporate the yogurt into the mixture

~ When all the beans, quinoa & yogurt are creamed together, stop the food processor

~ Put the contents of the cake mix & brownie mix into the bowl of the standing mixer

~ Transfer the bean mixture into the standing mixer bowl

~ Incorporate the mixes, chips & bean mixture on low in the standing mixer

~ Add in about 1/2-2/3 of the chocolate chip (or peanut butter chip) bag to the batter slowly

~ While it all mixes, spray a 9"x13" cake pan with cooking spray or lay down parchment paper

~ Once all the ingredients are good & mixed, pour it into the prepared cake pan - it will be thick! You will probably want to spread it with a rubber spatula.

~ Place the filled cake pan into the oven for about 25 minutes, until cake brownies are firm to the touch (may do the toothpick/knife test, but it may not come out completely clean)

~ While the brownies bake, melt the remaining chocolate chips with the peanut butter (or just the peanut butter chips); I put the remaining chips from the bag into a small bowl with the peanut butter, then put the bowl in a slightly larger bowl filled half-way with water, then placed in the microwave for 2 minutes - when done, I took out the bowl with the chocolate & peanut butter, then stirred them until completely incorporated & smooth (you may use a stovetop method if you so choose)

~ When the brownies are done, take out of the oven & allow to cool for about 10 minutes

~ Once the brownies are cooled enough to touch without burning yourself, carefully cut it up into smaller squares (I cut mine into 24 brownies)

~ Either with a spoon for drizzling, or placing the chocolate/peanut butter mixture into a small plastic storage bag with a tiny hole cut on the corner, begin to drizzle the mixture over the cut brownies

~ Allow to set for about 1 hour while the drizzle harden

~ Serve or keep covered with foil


** Perfect to grab with a glass of chocolate milk after your next workout

Yield: about 24 servings

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When I tried them, I had a partial bag of chocolate chips that I used for the topping. I didn't have any to put IN the brownies. Also, I used the plain non-fat Greek yogurt...I want to try the vanilla. Without the chocolate chips & extra vanilla flavoring, these are a rich consistency, but are not sweet at all! So if you are not big on sweets, and still want a treat for after your long run, well...here you go!

Either way...they are rich & have a great moist texture!

So, with a new year setting in, and if you have a resolution to begin getting in shape, or if you are looking forward to staying in shape, consider these to have as guilt-free muscle rebuilding! It's also a beautiful color that coincides with the 2015 color of the year!! YUM!! Plus, the beans, quinoa, Greek yogurt & peanut butter will give you a power-protein-punch!! BOOM!

Now have a happy & blessed new year!

Oh, and do me a favor and NOT tell my kiddos they were enjoying beans & quinoa for dessert! OK? Thanks...

ENJOY!

New Year's Ham & Beans

Happy New Year, everyone! Looking forward to a brand new start...

And, to start the new year, we decided to take in some of the long-standing traditions. In case you need a reminder of what some of the mainstays are, here you go:

= black eyed peas - to bring you luck in the new year for nourishment & survival

= pork - pigs are the animals who root forward while they eat & are associated with their girth size; symbolized moving forward in the new year & prosperity 

= greens - to bring you money in the new year

= cornbread - the color of gold

= round foods - the shape of coins, in hopes of bringing money

Well, I incorporated all of these things in our noon-day meal for New Year's Day! One dish to cover all of this? Perfect!

What might have been that perfect dish? It's my Lazy-Cooker Ham & Beans (my original recipe HERE), but with a twist. I kind of touched on it in the original post, but here's what I ended up doing:

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NEW YEAR'S HAM & BEANS

Ingredients:

~ 1-3 lbs. ham, cubed or chunked (the pork)

~ 1 bag dry beans (I use the 15 bean mix), soaked, drained & rinsed

~ 2-3 cans white beans (Northern, Navy, Cannelli), drained & rinsed

~ 1 can black eyed peas (tradition covered), drained & rinsed

~ 32 oz. chicken broth

~ 1/2 C apple cider

~ 1/4 C lemon juice

~ 2 T liquid smoke

~ 2 T honey

~ 2 celery stalks, rinsed & chopped

~ 2 carrots, rinsed & sliced (left in rounds...for the coin shape)

~ 1 parsnip, rinsed & sliced (left in rounds...for the coin shape)

~ half to 1 whole sweet yellow onion, chopped

~ 1 large kale, cabbage, collard greens, Swiss chard leaf (or more - green of choice), rinsed, spine removed & chopped (greens tradition); massaged in ground sea salt & a tsp lemon juice (may add more greens if desired)

~ 2 handfuls brown sugar

~ handful minced onion (optional)

~ handful smoked paprika

~ handful cinnamon

~ handful garlic powder

~ handful dried parsley

~ sprinkle chili powder

~ sprinkle allspice

~ sprinkle McCorrmick's Smokehouse Maple seasoning

~ 1-2 pinches ground cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional if more heat desired)

~ 2 bay leaves

Directions:

* soak dry beans in enough water to cover the beans by 1 & a half inches over for about 8 hours

* when beans have soaked appropriately, drain, rinse & discard any pebbles

* spray the lazy cooker insert with cooking spray, then add the beans (not canned) & ham

* pour in the chicken broth, apple cider, lemon juice, liquid smoke & honey

* add in the veggies except the greens of choice

* add in the spices except the bay leaves

* give the mixture a really good stir

* pop in those bay leaves & close the lid

* either set the lazy cooker on high for 4-5 hours

OR

set the lazy cooker on low for 8 hours (if wanting for lunch, so do all of this before bed after you've toasted in the new year)

* remove the bay leaves, add in the canned beans, give a good stir, add the bay leaves back in & close the lid

* set lazy cooker on low for 4 more hours

* in the last 20-45 minutes, remove the bay leaves & discard, then add in the greens, stir & close lid

* give one more really good stir, ladle into bowls & serve with cornbread

~~~~~~~~~~

Since we were serving this for lunch on New Year's Day, I started soaking the dry beans at lunch the day before, then started getting everything assembled & started after we toasted in the new year (as a tip: I would have everything already sliced, chopped, cubed, etc. so that you are not trying to do all of the slicing, chopping, cubing, etc. with a champagne buzz at 1:00 in the morning). The beans & ham were cooking for about 12 hours, total. When I got up in the morning, things were smelling like ham & beans, and I got to go right into the last steps.

We had a get-together to start out the new year with great friends...so I doubled this recipe. Yep! I had two lazy cookers going! But I'll tell you what...not everyone showed up and we went thru 1 whole lazy cooker & half of the other one. Many got seconds, too!

If you have someone who cringes at the thought of consuming black eyed peas &/or the greens...you could not taste a difference in this version from my original one! My hubby is not fond of black-eyed peas OR the kale/greens. He is one that got seconds!

And...it was perfect for the super cold day that set it while it filled us up for the rest of the evening.

I also had the whiners covered: I had my daughter make up some cole slaw for the greens, and I made up some canned black eyed peas with a stick of butter, a handful of brown sugar & some [turkey] bacon bits (had to be fake pork due to my non-pork eater).

For something a bit sweeter, I made cheater Danish pastries (my variation of the recipe HERE, but used the original recipe) & added a strawberry half to the top to resemble a heart to bring love in the new year.

bowl of ham & beans with black eyed peas & kale
served with cornbread
and shown with Love Danish Pastries

What a great start to the new year! I think we may have found a new tradition in these traditions! And they were delicious!

Hope this inspires you to keep up & find ways to work in these traditions...even if you have whiners. 

ENJOY!

Mixed Leafy Greens

Lately, we (my hubby & I) have noticed that we still aren't doing as well in our family eating. Eating? Yes. Good stuff? No.

Not that we have been doing horribly, but there was plenty of room for improvement. And I've mentioned that it's hard when you have kids who like & dislike all different things. But a foot is being put down!

Now then, when we have things like tacos, salad or sandwiches (and sometimes burgers), we have lettuce. Makes sense, right? But we would just get a bag of shredded iceberg lettuce for everything except the salad...but we'd deal with a bag of shredded salad mix which included iceberg lettuce with carrot shreds, choppy cabbage pieces & maybe another kind of lettuce. But we decided to change this.

In the midst of deciding to try to eat cleaner, we decided to work in more greens & salads. And, if you have seen some of my past posts, I really like pretty & colorful food! So I thought thru how to work out the leafy greens situation.

After some research, I figured out that I could get the freshest produce for cheaper, but stock up on it...and...I discovered that I could freeze it!! (Check out my source for freezing lettuce HERE at livestrong.com)

I went to the store & got a bunch (no pun necessarily intended) of leafy veggies. So, not really a recipe, but a tip on a mix.

Here's what I did:

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Mixed Leafy Greens

Ingredients:

~ 1 head green leaf lettuce
~ 1 head red leaf lettuce
~ 1 bunch romaine lettuce
~ 1 bunch curly kale
~ 1/2 head green cabbage
~ 1/2 head red cabbage


Directions:

* separate & wash off all leaves

* tear or chop all leaves into small pieces; discard all big stems

* if using kale, be sure to massage it with sea salt & lemon juice first, to begin breakdown early

* toss all greens together & make sure all leaves all dry

* separate into several freezer bags (as in link, above)

* use as necessary in meals

~~~~~~~~~~

One thing I did was spend a little bit on a salad/lettuce spinner to help with getting rid of the moisture. Plus...it's totally fun to use! Then, be sure, because it is IMPORTANT, to lay out the spun greens & pat dry with paper towels. DO IT!!! The lesser the moisture before freezing, the better. Otherwise it will turn to nasty mush when you thaw it out.

Also, if you do not want to separate the different leaf varieties, freeze in much smaller bags so you can decide what to use at any given time while getting a small bag of each needed/wanted for any dish when you need it! Or just do it all in smaller freezer bags & pull out what you need in smaller portions.

And you can throw in some iceberg lettuce if you'd like, and any other leafy greens in any mix (mustard greens, collard greens, Napa cabbage, spinach, turnip greens, etc.).

And...it's gorgeous while giving different flavors, textures, and pumping up the nutrition factor when you use these!

So...salad anyone?

ENJOY!!

Easy Irish Cream Pistachio Mousse

So, I got thinking...

On St. Patrick's Day, everyone mixes up Irish fare & just eating things that are green or green in color. Well, I decided to make a semi-Irish dessert based on a recipe I've already used!

The Easy Egg Nog Mousse (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE) has been adapted for the Irish holiday. So I bring you:

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EASY IRISH CREAM PISTACHIO MOUSSE

Ingredients:

1 large box pistachio instant pudding
2 C Irish Cream creamer - (I used Bailey's non-alcoholic Irish Cream coffee creamer)
1 small (8 oz) tub whipped topping - like Cool Whip

Directions:

Place all pudding mix and Irish Cream together in a medium to large bowl. 

Whisk together until completely mixed & set in refrigerator for about 5 minutes to let set slightly.

Remove from refrigerator, then slowly add in the whipped topping by folding it in.

Mix all together very well!

OK to serve from this point, or let set for longer in the refrigerator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep! That's it, people! And it is a taste of heaven! I promise you!

ENJOY!

Hericot Vert Toss

Earlier in her show's existance, Rachael Ray did an easy & elegant substitute to a green bean casserole. Whether you like her or you don't, it is a much easier & lighter version. It was green beans & sauteed onions. Then, I saw that Green Giant has a frozen vegetable side that is green beans & slivered almonds. Yummmm...almonds are my favorite edible nut. So...I figured I could combine the two ideas...

Then I got thinking: if it's a switch up to green bean casserole, then where are the mushrooms? Not everyone is a mushroom fan, I know. But that cream of mushroom soup is HEAVY, and so are the deep fried onions. So, I figured I could try to sautee some sliced mushrooms, too.

After I'd already planned on trying this, I saw where someone did a dish that was green beans & sliced mushrooms. And, for the first time ever, I heard the term "Hericot Vert" (pronounced 'harry-co vay'). Woo Hoo! Fancy-schmancy!

So, I decided I love that term with this beautiful dish...so...I present to you:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hericot Vert Toss

Ingredients:

12 oz green beans, blanched or steamed

1/2 - 1 C sweet onion, largely diced

1/2 - 1 C mushroom, sliced

1/4 C sliced almonds, toasted

1/4 C celery stalk, diced (optional)

vegetable cooking spray

Directions:

* toast the almonds, you can do this in your skillet or in the oven; if in skillet, remove from skillet & set aside

* spray your skillet with the vegetable cooking spray, add in sliced mushrooms, diced onion & optional celery to sautee until tender

* while mushrooms, onion & celery cook, either blanch or steam your green beans

* when all is cooked thru, toss green beans, mushrooms, onions, celery & almonds all together

* Serve & enjoy!

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Notice I didn't use any additional seasonings (i.e. salt, pepper, etc.). You know why? Between the toasted almonds, onion, celery (if you use it) & the fabulous green beans...why mess with it? Seriously! Oh...and...Vegans Rejoice! It's filling, too...if you eat it all at once by yourself. Not that I might know that...or...anything...

Oh, I used steamed green beans this time around.

Just gorgeous!

ENJOY!