Food Of The Week: Green Beans

Here's our new weekly segment titled "Food Of The Week".  This is where we'll give you all the information you'll need on a healthy food, some recipes, and some encouragement to include it in a meal this week. If it's something you've had before, try a new way of preparing it. Never had it before? This is your challenge to add another health food to your kitchen.

From Cooking Light

This week: Green Beans

Personally, they're on my top 5 list of favorite vegetables. I could eat them everyday, and at one point, I was.  Everyday for lunch I'd make 2 handfuls, steam them with some yellow squash, and call it a day.


Health Benefits
String beans are very low in sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat, and packed with micronutrients! It's a wonderful source of protein (2 g per 110 g serving), Magnesium, and Dietary Fiber.  Green beans are fairly easy to grow yourself (I grew up with some fresh green bean plants next to my parent's house and loved going out and picking a few to eat raw).

From Geek Casual

Ways to Eat
Green beans are popular in stir-fry or steamed. Be careful when "frying". Drizzle a teaspoon of Olive Oil in a pan, cook on medium heat and cook until warm but still crispy.  The longer you cook the more nutrients you'll loose. You can also add some fresh beans to some hot long grain brown rice. The heat from the rice will warm up the beans without losing nutrients.

Raw! Green beans a super yummy on salads or as a mid-day snack. Dip in some healthy, homemade dressing (like our raw ranch dressing).

Recipe Suggestion
A great recipe I recently tried is the Shallot & Hazelnut String Beans. Lots of flavor and extremely healthy.

Price
You can find fresh green beans for an average of $1.07 per pound, which means you can more bang for your buck. It's on the cheaper side of vegetables coming in at about $.19 per serving.

Challenge
Grab a 1/2 pound of green beans and add them to your salad raw or include in a stir fry! Let us know what seasonings you choose to add and how it turned out!

Good luck!
-Lacey