Grilled Green Beans with Garlic and Lemon Zest

This week the slowtravel grilling group had a vegetable to play about with. Terry had selected green beans - a vegetable that can be a challenge to grill since those darn things keep falling through the grates! Happily I was able to solve this problem with my amazing new grill basket from Bobby Flay!

Confession time . . . I used a combination of green and yello beans since that is whya was at the market. Hopefully the rules allow me to make that wee modification. :-)

I used a recipe that Michael Ruhlman had posted on his blog. in his post and recipe he provides options:

I like to toss the green veg in olive oil to which I’ve added smashed or minced garlic, and put them over high direct heat, tossing or turning them every few minutes or so. They cook in about 7-10 minutes. If you like heat, add some dried red chilli flakes. If you like seasoning that goes well with smoke, throw some whole or crushed cumin seeds in as well. And grill away.

garlic - check

heat - check

smokey spice - check

Yes, we went with every option going. The result was amazing. The flavours are fresh and delicious - the green beans get caramelized from the grilling which takes their flavour to an entire new level. try this recipe out and I defy you to eat but one!

Grilled Green Beans with Garlic and Lemon Zest

1/4 cup olive oil
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced to a paste
1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, whole or crushed in a mortar and pestle (optional)
1 pound green beans, stem ends picked (if you don’t have a grill pan, substitute asparagus)
1 lemon for zesting
Salt to taste

Start a fire a half hour before cooking your beans (you may be cooking other stuff on the grill, so just know that you’ll need ten minutes of medium-high to high heat for the beans—more about multiple dishes on the same grill next week).

Combine olive oil and garlic in a bowl (as well as the red pepper flakes and cumin if using). Swirl the oil around with your fingers to distribute the garlic (and other seasonings). Add the green beans and toss by hand till they’re uniformly coated. Put them in your hot grill basket or on the hot grate and cook till they’re gorgeous and tender.

Remove to a serving dish, season with salt and finish with freshly grated lemon zest.

Comments

[Kayte]

These look great and I have never thought of grilling green beans before, so I am going to test this one out today for dinner as I have all the ingredients on hand...except for that fancy grill basket. I do have a mesh strainer that has seen better days that I used to steam veggies in a pot before I got an actual steamer basket, so guess what: new use for old thing!! It doesn't have a lid, but hey, I think I can make it work, so thanks so much for showing the link to the grill basket you have...if this works/tastes nicely, I will put that on my Christmas list.

[JDeQ]

Let me know how the 'grill basket' made out of an old strainer works for you! It is the same sort of concept and if you can save $ 50 . . . more money for school. LOL