Green beans and bacon

It sounds like such a simple combination, green beans, and bacon and yet the flavors are so luscious and so complex that you will swear that there has to be more to it to have this depth of flavor. No, there are only four ingredients to this first variation of the old southern favorite.

• 8 slices of bacon
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 pounds of fresh green beans (2 16oz cans may be substituted)

Rinse, trim the ends and slice the fresh beans or open the two cans of beans and drain.

In a small frying pan cook the bacon. Remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel. Add the sugar and vinegar to the pan and mix into bacon fat. Add the green beans to the mixture crumble the bacon on top and cook an additional 5 or 6 minutes covered.

This makes enough to feed 8 people or 6 really hungry ones.

Transfer to a large serving bowl and watch the faces of your family light up. This dish will tickle your taste buds and make you wish that every day was green bean and bacon day. 

If you want to make an even simpler version of this delicious classic try this one which is bound to become a favorite at your house.

Steam one pound of green beans, after cutting off the ends and slicing French style.

In a frying pan cook 8 pieces of bacon. When nice and crispy remove and place on a paper towel to absorb the extra fat.

Peel and dice one small onion and add to the bacon fat in the pan. Sweat on low heat until the green beans are translucent. Turn the heat up to medium and add the green beans. Turn often so that they get a little crispy but no burn spots.

Transfer to a large bowl and crumble the bacon over the top.

Serve to rave reviews.

This is so simple and so delicious I bet you are asking yourself why you never thought of it. It will get even the most finicky eater to love their nutritious green beans. If you want to make it a little healthier you are out of luck, this recipe wouldn’t work with turkey bacon because you need lots of bacon fat. But for an occasional splurge, this is the best. And surprisingly, bacon has only 50 calories per slice so it probably isn't as big a splurge as you might have expected.