Fresh Green Beans Cooked in a Cast Iron Skillet -

Fresh Green Beans

This story starts with fresh green beans from our local farmers market and my grandmother’s cast iron skillet.

My mom and grandma were great cooks and they cooked a lot of green beans in their life time but always in a pressure cooker. I loved them and ate my fair share but I never really loved fooling with mom’s pressure cooker. I was always scared I was going to blow myself up. With so many new devices for cooking I knew there had to be a better way to cook fresh green beans. It never occurred to me that my grandmother’s cast iron skillet was an option.

Cooking The Old Fashioned Way

I tried roasting them on a cookie sheet. I washed them, patted them good and dry, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Then after they baked on high (450) until they were tender I sprayed them with butter. They were good but…..

Fast forward to last weekend when I over heard a lady talking about how she made green beans. I asked her to repeat it so I was sure I got it right. Then I bought some beans from her and went home to try fresh green beans made in a skillet.

OH MY GOODNESS! They were amazing! I don’t know that I will ever cook them any other way.

Get your skillet and chop up a vidalia onion along with a couple of pieces of bacon (3 or 4 if you really love bacon). The lady who told me how to make this also uses garlic, but we aren’t big garlic fans. I may try a tad next time though.

After your onions are soft, dump in your beans (washed and snapped) and pour in a can of chicken broth. Cover and simmer until beans are tender. Add salt and pepper while simmering if desired. Be prepared to enjoy!

Another difference in the way I made them and the way the lady at the market made them was she fried her bacon until crispy then took it out and crumbled it over the beans. I’m sure that way would be good, too, but I just cooked mine with the onion for awhile and then dumped beans and broth in on top. You can’t go wrong with bacon, right? Crispy or just to cook with, it gave the beans a great flavor!