My new favorite comfort food

With the exception of last Tuesday, I’ve been hitting up the Eastside Madison farmer’s market off of Ingersoll and Willy every week.  It’s great to browse and select what grabs you in the moment.

(By the way, if you go, you MUST come home with some tomatoes from Young Earth Farm. Their sun golds are to die for — the secret?  Sheryl told me they grow theirs in a hoop house, which protects the tomatoes from the elements and keeps the skins soft.)

I usually come home with lots of tomatoes, beets, corn and honey but if you’re like me, and it seems there are only so many ways to make green things interesting things, try out my new favorite veggie side: Seedy Roasted Green Beans.

The autumn harvest is just too full of opportunities to let all of these good veggies go unrecognized.  My grandmother used to serve green beans with lots of black pepper and bacon; there is still a little part of me — okay, a huge part of me — that still hankers for her version but what I like about the recipe below is that it provides some healthy fats and omega-3’s in addition to a healthy dose of garlic.  Keep some Altoids on hand if you plan on being in close contact with anyone else!

Seedy Roasted Green Beans

Serves 4

• 1 lb green beans, ends trimmed
• 1/4 cashews, chopped
• 2 TBS hemp seeds
• 1 TBS sesame seeds
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large baking dish, mix all ingredients together until lightly coated with olive oil.  Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes until green beans are tender and seeds/nuts are slightly browned.