{Tasty Tuesday: Kitchen Basics}

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For those of you experienced cooks, this is something you already know.  For those of you who were like me and are still learning the basics, you may or may not already know this. 

There are a few little tricks I have learned over the past year in my adventure to learn how to cook (such as this) and this is something that I use on a weekly basis.

Blanching vegetables.  Specifically, green beans.

I used to just steam all of my veggies, which, works for some, but not really green beans.  They never had that perfect crunch that we all want to experience when eating green beans. 

Blanching fresh green beans is the greatest thing that has happened to our vegetable intake for dinners.  We love to get our green beans at the local farmer's market and they have never tasted better than when I started blanching them.

So here's how you do it.

How to Blanch Green Beans

1.  Trim your green beans.

2.  Throw them in some rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes or until they turn bright green.  Add salt to the boiling water as well to help keep them greener.

3.  Immediately transfer them to ice water to shock them and stop the cooking process.

4.  After a few minutes, or once they are completely cooled, they are then ready to be cooked whenever you want to serve them.









**You should also do this before freezing vegetables.  Here is a chart you can use for different vegetables.**

And here is how I like to cook my green beans...

Yummy Garlic Green Beans

1.  Heat some olive oil and minced garlic on medium heat.

2.  Throw in some blanched green beans and add a little salt and pepper to taste.  Heat until desired temperature.

3.  Serve with comfort food such as grilled cheese and tomato soup because we all know we want comfort food this December.

Happy Tuesday, folks!