From Ho Hum to Wow!

My husband and I like a lot of vegetables.  Unfortunately, we don't like a lot of the same vegetables!  I love lima beans, but my husband loathes the legume.  He thinks black-eyed peas are the best, while I think they're best left at the grocery store!  I'm crazy about cabbage in any form except sauerkraut, but the only cabbage he'll eat is in the form of coleslaw.

One vegetable we agree on is green beans.  It's a side dish on our table more often than any other vegetable.  Most of the time, I just open a can of green beans and heat them in the microwave.  Since I fix green beans so often, though, I'm always looking for recipes that put an interesting twist on this old stand by.

When I first saw the recipe for Marinated Green Beans, I knew my husband would love it and I was right!  The recipe uses a lot of the same ingredients as the Green Bean Bundles I make every year at Christmas and Easter. Unlike bean bundles, the recipe is easier to prepare and less time consuming.  The beans need to marinate overnight, so you do need to plan ahead when you want to make these beans.

The original recipe called for canned green beans, but didn't specify what kind.  I use whole green beans because I like the size.

The recipe doesn't use Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, but the rest of the ingredients are identical to bean bundles, except for the amounts and method of preparation.

Instead of wrapping the beans in bacon and layering the ingredients on top, the butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic powder are combined and stirred into the green beans.  The seasonings can be adjusted to suit your taste.  If you want sweeter beans, add more brown sugar; for spicier beans, add more garlic powder. 

The bacon is diced -- the easiest way to do this is with a pair of kitchen shears -- and stirred into the beans.  If you don't want to add meat, omit the bacon; the beans will still be delicious.  Once everything is mixed together, refrigerate the beans overnight.  To evenly distribute the marinade, stir the beans a couple of times while they're marinating.

The beans take more effort than simply heating a can of green beans, but it's worth the work!  The marinade melds together and transforms canned green beans into a sweet and salty dish with a hint of bacon flavor.  The finished product is so good, you'll forget you're eating a vegetable!

Marinated Green Beans

4 Servings

2 (14.5 oz.) cans whole green beans, drained

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

3 slices bacon, diced (uncooked)

Put beans in a mixing bowl.  Mix margarine, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic powder together; pour over green beans.  Add diced bacon and stir until ingredients are combined.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, stirring two or three times while marinating.  When ready to cook, remove beans from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Stir the beans and put them in a greased baking dish.  Bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes, or until bacon is thoroughly cooked.

© Margaret's Morsels   

Happy Hour at Home

In previous blogs, I've shared recipes for Fruit Tea and Cranberry Orange Cooler.  Today, in honor of National Vodka Day, I want to share a beverage recipe for the over 21 crowd.

Some people drink vodka straight, but I'm not one of them.  I prefer vodka mixed with other beverages.  My favorite alcoholic beverage is a Vodka Collins.  This lemon lime adult beverage is made with sweet and sour cocktail mix -- a blend of sugar, lemon and lime juices -- plus a lemon lime carbonated beverage and, of course, vodka.

A few months ago, I found a recipe for a frozen lemon lime vodka drink that is reminiscent of a Vodka Collins.  The most obvious differences are it doesn't use sweet and sour mix, contains pineapple juice and is frozen.

The recipe uses canned frozen lemonade and limeade which takes the place of the sweet and sour mix in a Vodka Collins.  The undiluted lemonade and limeade are mixed with pineapple juice and vodka.  I use 3 cups of vodka, but you can reduce the amount if you prefer a drink that's not as strong.

Combine the ingredients in a freezer safe container and store it in the freezer.  Although vodka is a clear colorless liquid like water, it will not freeze solid.  The frozen mixture will have a slushy consistency.  I've stored the mixture in the freezer for a month without any noticeable change in taste.  If you store it longer, it might not taste as good as it did when it was first made.

The slushy frozen mixture.

When you're ready to use the mixture, scoop the desired amount into a glass.  I use a cookie scoop and put two scoops in each glass.  Finish filling the glass with the lemon lime carbonated beverage of your choice. I've tried Sprite, diet Sprite, ginger ale, 7-Up, diet 7-Up and cherry 7-Up. Out of all those beverages, I liked diet 7-Up the best.  I thought the finished product was too sweet when I used a regular soft drink.

Unless you live in a warm climate or we have an Indian summer, it might be getting too cool for this potent potable.  If you file the recipe in your recipe box, you can make it when the days start getting warmer.  It makes enough for a crowd -- the number of servings depends on how much of the mixture you put in each glass -- but it's also good one glass at a time.  Add some cheese, crackers, veggies and dip and you've got happy hour at home.

Frozen Lemon Lime Vodka Slush

1 (12 oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (undiluted)

1 (12 oz.) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed (undiluted)

1 (46 oz.) can pineapple juice

3 cups vodka

lemon lime carbonated beverage 

lime slices (for garnish; optional)

Combine the first four ingredients in a large freezer safe container.  Store in the freezer.  To serve, scoop the desired amount of mixture into a glass and finish filling with the lemon lime carbonated beverage of your choice. Garnish glasses with lime slices, if desired.

© Margaret's Morsels