Cranberry Orange Almond Green Beans

As opposed to the pizza wraps, this recipe IS an Elide Colorado Original Recipe™and I for one, LOVE it. This is the second time Elide has made this recipe and I think it is a new staple in our house because we both think it’s delicious.

When grilling Elide on whether she ACTUALLY made this recipe up, because I can’t fathom creatively and confidently mixing flavors on one’s own, Elide said that the inspiration started from a recipe for cranberry green beans. According to her….that was boring! She had some almonds laying around…and then thought about another flavor profile that goes well with cranberry, and decided on orange. Cranberry orange scones are Elide’s favorite scone flavor, so I guess you can think of these green beans as a healthy take on a cranberry orange scone ;). Let me know if that mindset helps you resist scones moving forward…

We have been having the green beans with pork chops, but they would really pair well with anything! Tonight, we had pork chops with an orange bbq sauce to really tie in all of the flavors, but Elide isn’t fully proud and confident of that recipe yet, so I guess we will all just have to wait for that one.

Recipe for the green beans are below…and I feel like I may say this about every recipe, but these are seriously good. Give it a shot…or just invite yourself over for dinner at our apartment. Whichever seems easier.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of green beans (be sure to wash and cut or snap the ends off)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced (or 2 if you’re a garlic fan)
• 1/2 cup of orange juice (we used the Tropicana Top50, but you do you)
• 3 tbsp of Craisins dried cranberries
• A handful of chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup of water
• Cooking spray
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat up a pan to medium heat and add green beans and 1/4 cup of water. Cover the pan and steam the green beans for 2-3 minutes until all of the water evaporates
2. Once the water evaporates, spray the green beans with cooking spray and add in garlic. Stir until the garlic is fragrant (takes 30 sec – 1 minute). Add a pinch of salt and pepper
3. Add the orange juice in and cover the pan. Let it cook for 5 minutes. The juice will evaporate and create a reduction
4. Turn off the heat, add the almonds and cranberries, mix, and serve hot!

and that’s it!!

I really love how the orange juice reduces and glazes the green beans. I kind of hate when you have a loose sauce on something and it like doesn’t really add a ton of flavor to your food without drenching and dipping it….this recipe does the exact opposite of that. The orange juice really sticks to the green beans and the cranberries and almonds add such a great sweetness and crunch! 10/10 Allisons recommend!