While we don’t celebrate for 12 days at Christmas, we do feast on three different Christmas dinners. The celebration with my Italian/Irish family is traditionally raviolis with meatballs & sausage and broccoli. Dinner with Eric’s extended family varies from year to year, as does the dinner for the third celebration with the five of us in our immediate family. The mix of traditional and unconventional makes for a wonderful holiday experience for us. I love the opportunity to experiment with new dishes when we are all gathered together!

For the vegetable side dish this year, I choose a green bean dish. This version is definitely not the traditional green bean casserole. Instead, the green beans are roasted with beets and walnuts. Eric is a huge fan of beets. Roasting them with the green beans and shallots brings out the sweetness in the beets. The walnuts added towards the end of the roasting time adds some crunch to the mix and the feta added just before serving gives this side dish a salty pop of tangy flavor. This vegetable side dish will complement any protein being served as the main dish!

Green Beans with Beets & Feta

Green Beans with Beets & Feta (adapted from bhg.com) Total Time Required: 1 hour, 15 minutes, Prep Time: 30 minutes, Roast Time: 40 – 45 minutes, Servings: 8 –  10, Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1 pound fresh beets, trimmed, peeled, and cut into thin wedges
• 4 medium shallots, sliced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup broken walnuts
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large roasting pan combine the green beans, beets, and shallots. Drizzle the vegetables with the oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Toss the veggies together to coat.

Add the oil, then salt & pepper the vegetables.

Roast the vegetables, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the beans and beets are tender, stir once or twice during that time. Add the walnuts to the mix and continue roasting everything for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the walnuts to the roasted vegetables.

To serve, transfer the roasted vegetables to a bowl or platter. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the vegetables and serve.

Top the dish with the feta cheese and serve.

Sides are an integral part of any dinner!  ~Linda

Green Beans with Beets & Feta (adapted from bhg.com) Total Time Required: 1 hour, 15 minutes, Prep Time: 30 minutes, Roast Time: 40 – 45 minutes, Servings: 8 –  10, Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1 pound fresh beets, trimmed, peeled, and cut into thin wedges
• 4 medium shallots, sliced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup broken walnuts
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large roasting pan combine the green beans, beets, and shallots. Drizzle the vegetables with the oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Toss the veggies together to coat.

Roast the vegetables, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the beans and beets are tender, stir once or twice during that time. Add the walnuts to the mix and continue roasting everything for another 10 to 15 minutes.

To serve, transfer the roasted vegetables to a bowl or platter. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the vegetables and serve.