Green Beans Amandine

I devised this recipe shortly after I moved in with my husband. I like to round out my Thanksgiving feast. Growing up it seemed like we had three choices: 1) potatoes, be them mashed, scalloped or in a salad 2) starchy vegetable, usually either corn, rice or sweet potatoes 3) cheese covered versions of 1 or 2. In my world, this just is not satisfying anymore. I need variety. It is the spice of life, right? Long story short, I was greatly in need of more variety and had settled on something green. OK, so my husband is probably one of the pickiest eaters that you have ever known. If it doesn't come from a can then he most likely won't eat it. This is in contrast to my family who eat from the garden 9 months out of the year. So my quandary was this; what can I fix that's not green bean casserole, heaven forbid, but is also not straight from a can? Hmm, almonds are good, so is butter and maybe if I use enough butter and cook it to death then he won't notice the onions...Yeah, that might work.

Well, you don't actually cook it to death. This recipe can actually be made in about 15 minutes. You can use any smoked meat. My dad always throws in some uncooked bacon to his fresh from the garden, well, anything. Matter of fact, I seriously considered using smoked turkey wings instead of ham for flavor but my hubby freaked out and accused me of sabotaging his one side dish. I rest my case on the pickiness.

Serves 8

2 lbs fresh green beans, 1 ½" pieces (or 3 (14oz) cans cut green beans, undrained)
1 small ham hock, fully cooked
1 c. water (reduce to ½ c. if using canned beans)
2/3 c. slivered almonds
1/3 c. minced onion
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp salt, to taste

1. Add green beans, ham hock and water to a large pot.
2. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 12-15 min for fresh or 10 min for canned.
   
3. Drain and set aside. You can either discard the ham, shred in into the green beans or reserve it for a later use.
   
4. Add butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat.
5. Add almonds and onion. Saute until translucent.
6. Stir in green beans and salt. Toss well to coat.
7. Serve warm.