Roasted Green Beans with Cranberries and Walnuts
For anyone out there who claims they don’t like a vegetable, my suggestion is always to roast it. Roasting veggies is hands down my favorite way to prepare them. And it’s quick and easy.
I have converted my family from people who had never had brussels sprouts to people who love them thanks to roasting them. I used to be one of those people who claimed to dislike green beans. I think it’s because I grew up eating canned green beans. And French cut no less. Blech. Once my eyes were opened to the wonders of fresh green beans, I started to really appreciate them. I did what I do best and roasted them. Now there’s no turning back.
I love that this recipe has a festive twist by adding the dried cranberries and walnuts to already delicious roasted green beans. This would make a great contribution to any dinner, whether it’s for a holiday or just any old night of the week.
One Year Ago: Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Two Years Ago: Butternut Squash Lasagna Rolls and Spiced Butternut Squash Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Cranberry Almond Caramel Tart and Cranberry Apple Pumpkin Muffins
Four Years Ago: Depths-of-Fall Butternut Squash Pie and The Ultimate Chewy and Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Roasted Green Beans with Cranberries and Walnuts
Roasted green beans are delicious in their own right. Add some dried cranberries and walnuts and you have a perfect holiday side dish.
Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh green beans, stem ends trimmed
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced into quarters
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Toss green beans with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar directly on the prepared baking sheet.
Roast the beans for 15 minutes, then stir with a spatula to promote even cooking.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine lemon zest, lemon juice, cranberries and walnuts and toss well.
Continue roasting until beans are tender, slightly browned and just starting to shrivel, about 10 minutes more.
Toss beans with cranberry mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more lemon juice if desired.
Recipe from Once Upon a Chef
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am really very terrible at frosting/decorating cake :\ This came out way better than anything I could make!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
Ha – I’m pretty bad too. That’s why I love putting stuff on the sides. Coconut does a good job of hiding my sloppy decorating skills.
Coconut and almond, you’ve already got me reeled in 🙂 two of my favorite flavors rolled into what looks like a moist, fluffy cake. YUM
This cake looks so beautiful and the texture is perfect! I love curd as a filling between cake layers but i never knew the trick for preventing it from seeping out – thanks!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm
Yea, it’s definitely very helpful. Even more so when you ACTUALLY do it 😉
We’ve all had those cake experiences. It looks like it turned out well in the end! And it sounds delicious!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I think it’s easy to get wrapped up in thinking we all need to project that all of our baking/cooking endeavors are hugely successful…
Regardless of any kitchen mishaps, this cake looks divine! Layer cakes always look so special, and the addition of fruit here makes me swooooon!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
I agree. Layer cakes always look special 🙂
Oh this looks amazing. And aren’t we all our own worst critics when we bake? I can’t tell you how many times I say something is terrible and my husband looks as me like I’m crazy.
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:21 pm
I agree. At the end of the day, it tasted delicious and no one knew about all the issues I had with the cake. I did want to keep it real on the blog and not give anyone any false sense that things are always easy for me…
I always shy away from layer cakes – yours always come out well, I need some more practice I think! Your “mistakes” are great learning points – did not know about the frosting damn, but it makes so much sense!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:23 pm
That’s why I wanted to talk about them. I definitely could have posted about this cake without mentioning any of the issues I had. I’m hoping they’ll help someone (myself included) to learn something for the next time they tackle a layer cake. Yours will definitely improve with practice. Mine surely are. I really want to make that coconut cake you just posted!
i’m always hard on myself too, but you wouldn’t know by the taste i’m sure! looks absolutely wonderful, not to mention i’m drooling over the flavor combo 🙂
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:24 pm
I agree, I think we all are. I wanted to keep it real with this post in case anyone else found it to be a difficult set of recipes…
Yum, your cake looks so delicious and I really love the sound of the blackberry lime curd!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:27 pm
Thanks!
I love coconut cake, and blackberries are my favorite fruit. Such a great idea to put them together. This cake is gorgeous! I would happily take a large slice . . . or maybe the whole thing 😉
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2013 @ 10:02 am
Then you would definitely love this cake!
Could anyone post the blackberry lime curd recipe? The link is no longer working.
Thanks!
beantownbaker — August 12th, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
Sorry about that. I updated the recipe link, but here it is as well: http://www.beantownbaker.com/2013/03/blackberry-lime-curd.html