Old habits are hard to break, and the same holds true when you’re cooking.  We tend to make the same things the same way.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Break the cycle with an easy to come by staple item: the good ol’ green bean.  Fresh green beans are relatively inexpensive.  You can get a lot for a little, so you can easily feed the masses with them.  But I get tired of boring steamed beans, so when I stumbled across this tasty new way to prepare them, I was hooked!  Plus now I have another great side dish / picnic / cookout item to add to my repertoire. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks??

Pesto Green Beans

• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 cups basil leaves
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients into a food processor, adding the olive oil last.  Blend until smooth.

• 2 pounds green beans
• 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons pine nuts or walnuts, rough chopped
• drizzle of olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Steam or boil green beans for about 5-10 minutes or until tender.  Drain, then toss with pesto, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Top with additional cheese and pine nuts, then drizzle with olive oil.  Voila!