Saturday, July 24, 2010

Dinner during Dora: Picky Eater's Green Beans

I have written before about being a picky eater, and how I don't actually like the taste of most vegetables. Despite this, I try to include a vegetable with every dinner- I know that they are good for me, Hubby likes them, and we want to set a good example for Pumpkin (even though she usually won't eat the vegetables I serve).

This means that I have a collection of quick recipes to make vegetables palatable to me. The second recipe in my Dinner during Dora series is one of my favorites- green beans cooked in a little orange juice.

Green Beans in Orange Juice

Ingredients:

Green beans- frozen or fresh will work
~1 tsp butter (optional- I don't really measure how much I use, and I think the beans would be fine without this)
~1/2 cup orange juice, or orange-tangerine juice (I use whatever I have on hand for my breakfasts)
Garlic salt
Pepper

Instructions:

If you're using fresh green beans, snap them.

Put the green beans into a microwave safe dish that has a lid. Pour orange juice on top, and put a pat of butter on them. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.



Put in the microwave. For frozen beans, microwave for about 3 minutes, stirring after 1.5 to 2 minutes. For fresh beans, you'll probably only need to microwave then for about 2 minutes, stirring after a minute.



(The exact times will depend on your microwave, how many beans you make, and how mushy/crunchy you like your beans. The times above are for a sort of crappy microwave, enough beans for 2-3 people, and doesn't make the beans very mushy.)

I serve these with a lot of different things, including the Bacon, Corn and Cheese rice that was my first Dinner during Dora post.

Source: The basic idea came from the Lemony Green Beans recipe in my Cooking Light Superfast Suppers cook book.

Who eats it: Hubby, me, and Petunia. Pumpkin has so far refused to try these. Petunia seems to really like them, even as cold leftovers.

7 comments:

  1. These look really tasty and easy. My favorite combination! Great recurring post idea.

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  2. I don't have a blog, but I thought I'd share one of my quick meals. I am also a picky eater (my MIL hates this and doesn't understand) so I dislike a lot of things. I like your blog (makes me feel better as a science mom) and look forward to more Dinner with Dora recipes.

    This is an adaptation for sloppy joes since I don't like BBQ or most tomato-y sauces.

    Brown 1 lb. hamburger (or ground turkey, etc). I usually add a little pepper and garlic powder while browning. Then mix in a can of either cream of celery soup or chicken with rice/stars soup. Heat. Serve on buns- I usually add a slice of cheese.

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  3. That sounds delicious, actually!

    Munchkin will not eat vegetables. Period. I'll keep trying, but I'm pretty much resigned to it, for at least the foreseeable future ...

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  4. @Mimi- Pumpkin won't eat veggies, either. The most vegetable-like substance that she'll eat is sweet potato fries.

    I'm not too stressed about it, because I was the same way. The only vegetable I'd eat when I was a kid was corn. I didn't add in carrots and zucchini until college. The other veggies that I'll eat came in grad school. And I still can't stand peas.

    Pumpkin will nibble on a spinach leaf. She calls it her "salad". But she won't actually eat it. Raw spinach is actually the least bitter green vegetable, in my opinion.

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  5. Oh, and hi and thanks, @Julie and @microbiologist xx! @Julie, I didn't care for BBQ sauce for years. I like it now. But I still don't eat ketchup on my burgers.

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  6. @Julie - That recipe reminds me of one my MIL makes. She just browns hamburger meat with salt and pepper and a little bit of flour. They serve it on buns with tomato slices (Although I eat it just on the plate alone.) It's actually very good!

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  7. This sounds really good! I'll have to try it (and I love green beans!)

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