Irish potluck

My wonderful friend Sarah's parties are the stuff of legend- great food, wonderful company  and just plain overall fun. When she invited me to a spring potluck  in March I jumped at the chance. For days, I looked at the ingredients in my fridge and pantry and pored over recipes hoping to find the one  that would call out my name. Come party day - I still had not decided what to make.  Four hours before the party I was hit with an epiphany - this was no ordinary potluck - it  was a St. Patrick's day party- duh .. March 17th and my friend loves themes…

What I ended up taking was far far from Irish as can possibly be - but it was green and garlicky and delicious

I ended up making these Greek Style Green Beans. Splendid Table - I love you!

 

 I followed the recipe closely- with just a few tweaks. I used Frozen Green beans - a mix of haricot verts and Romanos.  The only olive oil  I had on hand was garlic infused olive oil.. More garlic the better right? And I didn't have dill so I left it out  and I did double the recipe. I dragged out my cast iron Dutch oven, prepped the ingredients, set it on the stove at low and went about my other chores.

The  beans were everything they were  promised to be. Garlicky, spicy and full of  the promise of spring.

Leftovers taste great in a Pita pocket with some hummus.

2 lbs frozen green beans ( a mix of yellow and green romanos and haricto verts)
Veg oil cooking spray
3 tbs of garlic infused olive oil
8 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 large tomatoes chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dashes of  Kashmiri Lal Mirch (in lieu of the cayenne)

Spray a cast iron dutch oven with cooking spray.  Add the olive oil, garlic, green beans and tomatoes. Don't stir. Set the pot on the burner over the lowest possible flame and cook for 45 to 50 minutes without stirring.  Turn the heat up and cook off the water ( another good 20 minutes)  Season to taste with salt,pepper, Lal Mirch and a few more splashes of olive oil.