It’s Friday!!  Last night I was trying to think of what to make for supper and I remember picking up some green beans and I thought it would be a great side dish to go with some baked haddock.  It was so nice to have just a simple dinner after a long day.  I was really impressed with the flavor combination on the beans.  Balsamic vinegar is a great addition to any quick vegetable saute.

To finish off the beans, I topped them with Parmesan cheese and sliced almonds.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of Green Beans
• 1 Tbsp. Water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Basil Paste
• Sea Salt
• Cracked Black Pepper
• Sliced almonds
• Parmesan Cheese

Method

1. Preheat saute pan on high and add the water and beans.







Kitty on the counter making sure everything is going according to plan.

2. Cook beans until the water dissolves about 3 minutes and then add balsamic vinegar, garlic and basil paste



3. Stir fry for another minute and add the pepper.
4. Top off with sliced almonds and Parmesan cheese
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: To make a garlic paste, slice the garlic finely and add a little bit of salt on the board and rub the garlic back and forth over it on the board.  The salt will break down the garlic and make a great paste for the beans.

So there you have it!  A quick and simple bean dish for absolutely everyone.  Try it and let me know what you think.  As I was eating it last night I thought that a nice addition would be a splash of some red pepper flakes or a dash of hot sauce to really quick it up.  Nonetheless I enjoyed it!

I hope you have an awesome Friday and a great Valentine’s day!  We have a busy weekend lined up with the Olympics, Jack Frost Winter Festival, and some music lessons.  Enjoy your weekend and we shall talk on Monday.

Take care

zesty

Happy Wednesday to you!  I am not sure if you noticed or not but I didn’t post yesterday.  In the new year I am starting to focus on growing zesty to be a bigger and better blog.  In order to do so I have chosen to post 2-3 times a week and focus on high quality and value added information for you.  I have felt in the past 4-6 weeks that my posts have been sub par and I would like to change that.

With that being said and off my chest I would like to deliver a fantastic recipe that was part of the New Years celebration.  It was ridiculously good.  Please note that this recipe does not have to be limited to Trout.  This can be used on anything… chicken, eggplant, pork – you name it.  The flavor of this dish was over the moon.  The tomato compote was so delicious and really was a nice compliment to the fish.

Ingredients

• 1 Fillet trout
• 1 Pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 Small onion minced
• 4 Cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2  Tsp. coarse salt
• 2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar ( or red wine vinegar)
• 1/2 Tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/4 Tsp. white sugar
• 2 Tbsp. slivered almonds.
• 1 Tbsp. minced basil
• 1 Cup fresh breadcrumbs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Heat a saucepan that can go into the oven pan over medium heat and add onions, stirring occasionally until tender soft, 7 minutes.
3. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook a further 4 minutes.
4. To the mixture add salt, vinegar, and sugar and place in oven for about 12 minutes.
5. Toast the nuts in the interim and after the 12 minutes add to the dish.
6. Still, raise the temperature to 425 F and cook around 8 minutes or until the mixture had dried considerably. Add basil and stir.The dish can be made ahead to here.







7. Place trout on pan, spoon the tomato mixture over, then add breadcrumbs and bake at 350 F until the fish flakes easily.





8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: What you may see happen is that the top of the fish will get too brown before the center of the fish is cooked.  If that happens cover the breadcrumb with foil and continue cooking until the center of the fish is done.

So there you have it…. a delicious recipe that is way easier than it sounds. 

Do you ever think a recipe is to complex so you just avoid it and either make something else that you are not happy with or order takeout? It does happen to me periodically but for the most part I am pretty open to try just about anything and be prepared to eat it regardless of how it turns out.

Some Cool Finds Over the Holidays

• Sweet Pumpkin Fritters compliments of Kevin over at Closetcooking.  If you have yet to check out Kevin’s recipes as of yet I suggest you do so.  Admire the honey syrup for these fritters… insane!

• I got my hands on the Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook.  It is pretty awesome.  Does anyone else have a copy?

I hope you have a great Wednesday and I will see you all on Friday.

Take care

zesty