Green Beans, cooked my favorite way!

This dish is taken from Jamie Oliver from his show "Jamie at Home". I fell in love with this dish as soon as I saw it on TV. Green beans, tomatoes, chili's and anchovies. How can you go wrong? The original recipe is here along with a recipe for munkfish Jamie served with his beans. (I opted for roasted chicken thighs). My changes to the bean recipe are below, reflecting what I have available in my pantry at home.


I did not have any chili's on hand, so I used many shakes from my crushed red pepper shaker. Maybe 1/2 tsp total? Anyway, it could have used more so be generous. Also, I used two 14oz cans of diced tomatoes, no extra salt and dried rosemary (although I would use fresh if available, it had a better flavor when I made it with the fresh last time). I cooked the beans a little longer than called for in the recipe so they did not have as much as a bite, undercooked beans don't agree with everyone in my family.

Anyway, this is the second time I made this dish and I can not get enough of it. I will need to try it with frozen green bean for winter time, but will probably add tomato paste to the sauce to compensate for the extra water from the frozen beans.

Grilled Watermelon

I should start out by saying, I don't really like watermelon. The taste to wateriness ratio does not make it worth it to me. When my husband showed me a recipe for grilled watermelon in Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian", I just had to try it. Afterall, I had a watermelon from my farm share and we needed to eat it.


I chose to try the olive oil and cayenne pepper rub to go on the melon slices before grilling them. Grilling watermelon is a strange thing. I found that you really need to turn the heat up to keep the water evaporating. Otherwise, it is pretty strait forward. Keep grilling and turning till it is as dehydrated and charred as you want. The end product is surprisingly sweet and caramelized. And the texture is not at all like watermelon but almost dense. I really liked it and if I ever find myself with watermelon again, I will make it!

For friends: This will make an appearance at Grill-Fest!