Haricot Vert with Roasted Garlic Chèvre & Toasted Hazelnuts

It's Wednesday night.  You're making dinner.  How about showing a little extra care to your obligatory vegetable?

I would happily eat this entire pan of green beans by myself and call it a meal.  Ideally, with only my fingers for utensils as I stand over the stove top, scrolling through YouTube with my other hand.  Keepin' it classy. 

If Mr. Pedantic is home, however, I will probably let these take the role of side dish, even though they will undoubtably steal the show. 

I love frozen green beans.  They are one of several vegetables that, in my humble opinion, do not sink in quality after being frozen.  Plus, you can find them all year round!  

My freezer is never without a bag of the long, thin green beans known as haricot vert.  This title makes you sound fancy, unless your French is truly awful, in which case it just sounds really terrible.  We can just call them green beans.  That is perfectly alright.  Things are getting fancy enough around here thanks to a really wonderful drizzle of roasted garlic goat cheese.  Oh yes. 

Garlic develops such a wonderful sweetness when roasted, a sweetness that pairs splendidly with the tanginess of creamy goat cheese. 

You will most definitely be tempted to dip some pita chips down into this bowl of creaminess and you should most definitely act on it. 

While the green beans finish roasting, toast up a handful of hazelnuts.  We take every chance we can to add texture.

The rich, garlic-spiked goat cheese is drizzled over the green beans and the hazelnuts are sprinkled. 

Why can't vegetables always be this exciting?

From where I am standing, Wednesday night dinner is looking pretty fantastic. 

I hope you sneak at least a couple of bites with your fingers.  

xoxo

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Haricot Vert with Roasted Garlic Chèvre & Toasted Hazelnuts

serves 4-6

Cook's Note:  Prepare the garlic and the green beans simultaneously so that they can roast together.  Pull the garlic out after twenty minutes so that you can prepare the chèvre while the beans finish roasting. 

FOR THE HARICOT VERT 

• 1 lb haricot vert or thin green beans, frozen

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Spread the green beans evenly out onto a nonstick sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast, stirring every so often, for 30 minutes. 

FOR THE ROASTED GARLIC CHEVRE 

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 5 ounces chèvre

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 6 tablespoons half & half

• pinch freshly ground black pepper

Place the peeled garlic into a small, glass roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast on the bottom rack for 15-20 minutes; until soft and golden. 

Combine the garlic, any roasting oil remaining in the pan, chèvre, lemon juice, half & half, and freshly ground black pepper in the work bowl of your food processor and pulse until smooth. 

TOASTED HAZELNUTS & ASSEMBLY 

• 1/2 cup raw hazelnuts

• roasted haricot vert

• roasted garlic chèvre

Place hazelnuts in a small, nonstick frying pan and set over medium heat.  Toast, stirring often, until fragrant; about five minutes.  Chop roughly. 

Drizzle the prepared roasted garlic chèvre over the roasted green beans and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy! 

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