Cranberry Pecan Green Beans

Fresh green beans sautéed with Cranberry Honey Butter and tossed with toasted pecans.

Green beans are one of my standard Thanksgiving Side Dishes, and I'm reminded again how silly it seems to wait another 2 months in order to celebrate the harvest. By the time American Thanksgiving rolls around the only 'fresh' local vegetables are hardy greens like kale and long-storing winter squash and potatoes.  Everything else has been put up. The Canadians have a better plan--have Thanksgiving in October, and do it on a Monday so you have an entire weekend to prepare the feast. None of this 'last minute rush around after work on Wednesday' craziness. No matter which day you're giving thanks for the harvest, here's a recipe for you.

The green beans have been plentiful this year in Ohio. From our farmers here in the SW corner of the state on up to Meghan's farmers in NE Ohio--lots and lots of green beans in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm shares.

On a whim I decided to combine some of my Cranberry Honey Butter with some of my copious volume of green beans. [I'll be honest, inspiration struck me when I opened the freezer door and a roll of cranberry honey butter fell out.] I thought it would look pretty with the bright green beans, so I whipped up a quick side dish.

To save time and dishes, I briefly cooked the green beans in the microwave and toasted the pecans in a dry skillet. Then it was a simple matter to assemble the finished dish.  Try this one at home.

NOTE:  I created this recipe to be gluten free through my choice of ingredients. Check labels to confirm that your products are also gluten free. Good sources for determining that your products are gluten free can be found here:

http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/

http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/

Cranberry Pecan Green Beans (serves 4-6)

4 cups green beans, trimmed to bite sized pieces

½ cup chopped pecans

2 Tablespoons Cranberry Honey Butter

salt and pepper to taste

In a microwave safe container, and with a Tablespoon or so of water, cook beans on full power for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a medium (10 inch for me) dry skillet over medium heat, toast pecans in a single layer until fragrant. Remove from skillet and set aside. Melt cranberry butter in skillet, toss the cooked beans with the melted butter, and toss most of the toasted pecans with the flavored beans. Taste one, and add a bit of salt and pepper if you need. Garnish with the rest of the pecans. Serve hot.

This post is linked up with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Happy Holidays Link Party