Change up your side dish routine and make my easy and unique recipe for Sauteed Green Beans & Leeks.
If you celebrate Easter I hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter. I had all the intentions to post this recipe last week before Easter, but life got in the way. Let’s face it–this was the perfect addition to the Easter dinner table (or really any holiday table); however, I’ll be honest. I never made these for a holiday. I made them for dinner one evening when I had some extra leeks on hand that I was experimenting with. Everyone in my family loved them and I knew I had to share them with my readers.
Back to my hiatus story–I disconnected from the computer and enjoyed some much needed family time. My son celebrated his FOURTH Birthday last week (how the heck is that possible)?!? I feel like I just announced on here that he had arrived into our world, and then a few days later we celebrated Easter. Needless to say, it was a very busy week for us. After all the madness was over I instantly looked up when Easter is next yer. Thankfully–it’s almost a month after his Birthday next year. Thank goodness–because this mama is EXHAUSTED! I have a Birthday/Holiday hangover and I really didn’t drink at all!
So let’s talk a little bit about this fantastic and easy side dish recipe. It only requires four ingredients. Okay, six if you count the salt and pepper. The secret ingredient to this recipe is bacon fat. If you love bacon you’ll love these green beans. In fact, if you have a little cooked bacon available you could crumble it on top of these green beans and it would elevate them even more, so! So let’s go back to the bacon fat for a minute. I save ALL my bacon fat drippings. I store it in a glass jar in my refrigerator and refill it when the jar gets to be about half empty. I use a tablespoon or so in my cooking at least a few times a week. I sub it out for oil and it adds so much flavor to a dish!
Once the bacon fat is melted I add in the green beans, leeks, garlic, salt and pepper. I place a lid on top and let them simmer on a medium flame for a few minutes. I mix the green beans around every so often until they are soft and to my families liking. You don’t have to cook them this long if you like a crisper green bean. My family, unfortunately, does not. So I tend to cook them until they are soft. It’s all about preference. At the end of the day they will still yield the same great taste! If you want to switch up your side dish routine give my easy recipe for Sauteed Green Beans & Leeks a try!
Sauteed Green Beans & Leeks
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat
- 1 lb. green beans trimmed
- ¼ cup leeks whites and light greens thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place the bacon fat in a frying pan fitted with a lid. Heat the pan on medium heat. Then add in the green beans, leeks, garlic, salt and pepper. Place the lid on the frying pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 3-5 minutes then stir mixing all the ingredients together. Continue cooking with the lid on and stirring every few minutes for a total of 15 minutes (or the green beans are done to your likeness).
- Divide evenly among plates, and enjoy.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!