Roasting Green Beans

Even though today was a holiday for all of our family, I wanted to work on a meal that could be done on a day when I didn't have all the time in the world to prep. The temperature was a balmy 63 degrees today so grilled chicken seemed like a great main course, followed by a green bean recipe I have been really wanting to try. I won't ever be sick of potatoes but risotto seemed like a good, easy final piece to our meal. Below I have included the marinade for the chicken, a no fail from my Aunt Sandy as well as the roasted green bean recipe. The risotto was Lundberg and is a great organic staple from our farmer's market.

Bahama Mama Mia Marinade

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

1/4 c. olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

2 T. sesame seeds

1-2 lbs chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients in a large measuring cup. Place chicken breasts in a glass container and pour mixture over all of the breasts. Poultry can marinate for 30 minutes to 8 hours. This marinade is great for grilled, baked or broiled chicken.

Roasted Sesame Green Beans (serves about 4 not very greedy people or 2 of us)

1 pound fresh green beans, stem ends snapped off

1 T. olive oil

1 T. minced garlic (about 3 medium cloves)

2 t. honey

1/2 t. toasted sesame oil

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

1 T. sesame seeds

Sea salt and ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. If you are using a dark nonstick rimmed baking sheet, cover the sheet with foil. If you are using a light colored rimmed baking sheet then foil is not required.

2. Spread beans on the baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Using your hands, toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with 1/2 t. of salt, toss to coat and distribute in an even layer. Roast 10 minutes.

3. While beans are roasting combine the garlic, honey, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and sesame seeds in a small bowl. Set aside.

4. After 10 minutes of roasting remove the beans from the oven. Using tongs, coat beans evenly with the mixture and redistribute in an even layer.

5. Continue roasting until dark golden brown in spots and starting to shrivel, 10-12 minutes longer. Adjust seasoning as needed and serve warm.

Notes: Oh. My. God. These were so good and so easy to make that Marvin might be sick of them soon. I think it would be great to add some red onions to this or even use it with chicken as a glaze and then tossed over brown rice. This recipe was easy but tasted like it took all day.