Easy Fancy Green Beans

This weekend, while much of the country dealt with awful storms, we had the most beautiful weekend of January thaw. Have you heard of January thaw? We get it just about every year and it's just what it sounds like. Warm, 60-70 degree days that feel like Spring in the middle of January. For us, it is usually the last hurrah before Real Winter sets in, and the temperatures dip again for the long haul.

So since the warm days are few, we do our best to take advantage of them and spent lots of time outdoors this weekend. We're still recovering from the flu, but we played outside, planted the last of the bulbs, opened all the windows in the house... it was heavenly. We made burgers for dinner and sat in the sun like cats, soaking in every bit that we could.

But you came here for the recipe, and lest this become one of those oh-too-rambly recipe posts... let's get to it. These green beans are ridiculously easy. You can make them. Your family will enjoy them. We have served them at family holidays and they were at least as popular if not more than other holiday green bean dishes. They are simple to make, and are great for holidays where you need an easy vegetable side dish instead of a complicated one.

If your people willingly eat fresh garlic and onions, by all means, USE THEM. Just saute them in the butter or oil before adding the green beans. My husband and children, alas, dislike the fresh, so I have been cooking with the dried ones lately.

Ingredients:

1 lb green beans
1 lemon or 1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt / pepper
dried garlic and onions
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
water

Directions:

1. Heat a pan over med high to high heat with the butter or olive oil.
2. Once it is hot, add the green beans, dried garlic, and dried onions.
3. When the garlic starts to brown, add the juice of half a lemon and 1 c of water. Allow to simmer on high, uncovered until all the water is absorbed.
4. Stir the green beans allowing them to brown on the bottom a bit, then add another 1/2 c water. Once it is absorbed, about half your green beans should be bright green and just cooked and the other half should be slightly more browned, well done and wrinkled, this is the perfect time to stop and serve them.