Green beans with butter and bacon is a hearty and flavor-filled side dish that takes green beans from plain to irresistible with just a handful of ingredients.
Start by breaking the beans. Snap off the little tails at both ends of the bean. You can leave the bean whole (as pictured) or break them into bite-sized pieces. It's up to you.
Rinse the beans in cold water.
Place all of the beans in a medium saucepan, and cover completely with water. Add 2 slices of bacon to the beans. Make sure you use enough water to cover the beans, and bring the pot to a boil.
Simmer for 25 to 45 minutes, checking for doneness along the way.
While the beans are cooking, fry up the last 2 slices of bacon until very crisp. Allow the bacon to cool, chop it well, and set aside. When the beans are cooked to your liking, discard the boiled bacon (or feed it someone who will eat boiled bacon), and drain.
Put the beans on your serving dish, top with butter, the crumbed bacon, and a heavy sprinkle of salt.
Serve while pipin' hot.
Notes
This is a great way to spruce up canned and frozen green beans, too.
Dirtying a pan for 2 slices of bacon is a shame. I normally fry a whole pound of bacon at a time and keep extras in the fridge for things like this. Just re-crisp the refrigerated bacon in the microwave.
The cooking time has a wide range. I have found that store-bought fresh green beans don't cook as long as garden fresh green beans. Yours will vary, too, so just keep an eye on them.
You can add a couple of fat slices of onion to the beans while they are cooking if you like, too. It adds some great flavor.