Easy to cook and prepare, green beans are one of my all-time favorite side dishes. I know, they go great grilled with garlic and butter when serving next to a juicy steak. Yet, I have been preparing another recipe lately. Again, this one is a family formula. It is loaded with olive oil, and completely vegetarian. Notice the preparation is super easy, but the cooking time is a bit long; 2 hours. This is because it is similar to casserole recipes where we slow cook. You need to close the lid and forget about it for a while.

Veggies are always healthier

Maybe it is the documentaries on Netflix, or maybe it is just that I had eaten millions of burgers to this day. I started to slip into a more greenish, vegetable friendly route in recent years. And, what is greener than green beans? Well, US dollars might be, but I don’t think you can cook those. In fact, there are many other veggies much greener than green beans, but these string beans got the best name for some reason. Pretty much like Metallica, of all the metal bands out there, they got the best name.

Lectin Protein and Green Beans

There have been many debates on green beans and legumes for the effects of lectin. Some people claim that our digestion system cannot break down these proteins. Lectins can bind to carbohydrates like sugar. Nevertheless, this is only true when you consume certain vegetables raw. Note that when you boil the green beans, you neutralize the lectin. Plus, you get to increase the antioxidant levels.

So, now that I proved that the green beans are super healthy and tasty, we can start with the recipe of the day. Follow me!

Green Beans with Olive Oil – Healthy Side Dish

Recipe by OzgurCourse: Appetizers, Mezze

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

Calories

200

kcal

Total time

2

hours 

15

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound (454 g) Whole Green Beans (any kind is fine, pick your favorite)

• 2 large tomatoes

• 1 medium-sized onion

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 teaspoon tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon honey (makes all the difference, add more if you like)

• 1/4 tablespoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Cut the green beans in halves, you can also break them in halves by hand.
• Wash them and drain well.
• Get a medium-sized saucepan.
• Grate the tomatoes and onion. Add them into saucepan.
• Add the tomato paste, honey and salt into pan. Close the lid and cook over low heat for about 2 hours.
• Add in the green beans and stir a few times to blend them.
• Close the lid and cook over low heat for about 2 hours.

Notes

• You can prepare the green beans by hand without a knife. Just break both ends. But if you want to use a knife, line up the beans and use a chef knife to cut the tips quickly.

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Does boiling green beans remove nutrients?

Green beans are exceptional at being able to keep most of their antioxidant levels after getting cooked. However, they tend to lose about 60% of the Vitamin C content when you do so. Remember, green beans are good for your bones since they contain a good amount of Vitamin K.