Green Beans and Smoky Bacon

Bacon, indulgent, excessive~we use the whole package~ tender French Haricot Vert and caramelized shallots all intermingle to give this dish a great punch of flavor. We prefer not to have our vegetables teamed up with a can of soup, but oh my!, these are perfect for just this time of year.

Ingredients from Trader Joe's:

Serves 8-10 as a side dish

1 package Niman Ranch Applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces *

1 package frozen Haricot Vert green beans

2 shallots or you could use 1 small onion, peeled and cut into thin-thin rings

a dash of olive oil, a couple of pats of butter, pinch sugar, salt and fresh ground pepper

To begin:

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and 1 pat (tablespoon) butter. Add the thinly sliced shallots. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. Slowly caramelize the shallots. If they start to get too dark, add a tablespoon water and remove from heat and stir up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove the shallots from the pan to cool in a small bowl.

Next, add the sliced bacon. As the bacon begins to warm the bacon will pull apart from each piece. Cook until the bacon is golden and crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel to drain. Remove all but a couple of tablespoons of the bacon fat.

You can make this dish ahead to this point. It will only take a couple of minutes to finish just before serving.

When you are ready to serve, heat the pan up on medium high heat, add a couple of tablespoons butter to the bacon fat reserved in the pan. When hot, add the green beans and saute until they are cooked through and tender. This goes quickly even though the beans were frozen when you began~they were pre-prepped by Trader Joe's already.

If you over-cook the beans they will not retain their beautiful green color.

Add the bacon and caramelized shallots.

Serve

** Niman Ranch treats their animals humanly. As a result, we find their products to be superior.