Never heard of roasting green beans? Now you know you won’t stop
You may think only steaming or boiling is the traditional way to cook green beans, however, those methods can often add too much moisture and reduce flavour, resulting in a soggy over-cooked bean.
Roasting keeps flavour inside the vegetable and keeps the texture intact, producing a satisfying slightly al dente mouth bite that makes green beans so delicious. It’s important to use thin string beans as the thicker variety won’t roast within the time frame required in this recipe.
One-Pot Cooking
Who isn’t a fan of one-pot cooking? It’s easy, reduces mess and dishes and allows you to relax while the food slowly cooks away without needing too much attention. What’s even better is this the whole pot or tray can be placed on the dining table for everyone to help themselves.
Roasting feta and tomatoes
Feta cheese sort of goes through a magical transformation when roasted in the oven. It becomes crumbly and the salty savoury flavour is greatly enhanced. Paired with juicy tomatoes, green beans and a few spices, it can be served as a side dish or combined with pasta, bread or rice and eaten as a main.
Adding Spices
In this recipe chilli flakes, za’atar and sumac is added for an extra kick, however, any chilli-based spice such as harissa could also be substituted. Cumin, oregano, or fennel seeds would also pair very well.
And the best thing about this dish is the delicious spice-infused oil that gathers under the vegetables and cheese, perfect for dipping bread into or coating pasta that’s mixed through.
Oven Roasted Green Beans, Tomatoes and Feta
Ingredients
- 400 g tomatoes chopped into small pieces
- 400 g thin green string beans ends trimmed
- 200 g feta crumbled into large chunks
- 1 tsp za’atar
- 1 tsp sumac
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- Salt flakes
- Olive oil for roasting
- Additional good quality tasting olive oil for drizzling
- Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C degrees.
- Using an oven roasting tray, add chopped tomatoes and whole feta. Drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and gently combine. Roast for 15 minutes.
- Place beans in a bowl, drizzle with oil and season with salt.
- Remove the roasting tray from the oven and break up feta into pieces. Add green beans, za’atar, chilli flakes and sumac. Gently combine all the ingredients together.
- Return to the oven and roast a further 15 – 20 minutes or until beans are cooked through and have a slight bite.
- Remove tray from the oven, squeeze over a little lemon juice, season with more salt if needed and finish by drizzling with good quality olive oil.
