This colorful veggie dish will zhoosh up any meal, making your family feel like they’re company. The basil adds a sweet and savory flavor, with hints of mint, anise, and pepper that balances the other flavors in the butter sauce. Fresh green beans are great when they are available. Washing and trimming off the ends can take a little time. A great shortcut is using the pre-washed and trimmed, microwave-ready bag available in the produce department. It costs a bit more but makes using fresh a lot easier! An excellent alternative is frozen green beans. Canned green beans are also an option. The grape tomatoes add bright color and a perfect sugar-to-acid balance. Cutting the tomatoes in half is easy with a sharp paring knife but does take a minute or two. I also like using cherry tomatoes. This was my go-to holiday veggie side dish. I called it “Jingle Beans” because of the green & red but it’s too good (and too easy) not to serve throughout the year, so I renamed it!

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In a saute pan, melt butter and add basil, sugar and garlic salt.

Microwave beans for 2-3 minutes, just until tender

Pour butter sauce over green beans and serve!

Green Beans with Grape Tomatoes

Recipe by Jane BruceCourse: INS Living Blogs, INS Living Recipes, INS Living: Side Dishes

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

1 green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
or 1 bag (14-15 oz) frozen green beans
or 1 (14.5 oz) canned green beans
¼ cup butter
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh basil (or ¾ teaspoon dried basil)
2 cups grape tomato halves

Directions

Fresh Green Beans: Place the green beans into a microwave safe dish with 1-2 tablespoons of water and cover with cling wrap. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until almost crisp-tender. Drain water and stir. Leave uncovered to release steam. Frozen or Canned: Prepare as directed on package
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in sugar, garlic salt, pepper and basil. Add tomatoes, and cook stirring gently just until soft. Pour the tomato mixture over the green beans, and toss gently to blend.