Green Bean Bundles

When I first saw a recipe over at http://www.ourbestbites.com/ for Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bunndles, I knew I had struck gold. I found the recipe as green beans were plentiful in the backyard, but was out of bacon! Bummer, I know. By the time we bought more bacon, the grean bean plants had seemingly given up for the summer. That's when one of my local grocery stores put green beans on sale.
Yes! Green bean bundles, here I come!
The original recipe calls for a pound of green beans- but with only 2 of us, I used less. Used as a side dish to most anything, this recipe can feed as many people as you like, one bundles per person.
Each bundle is about 10 to 12 green beans. I like using a number better than a weight since I don't use a kitchen scale and it makes it easier for me to scale up or down depending on how many are over for dinner.
The sauce for the green beans seemed weird for me as I was cooking it. The combination of onion and garlic seemed fine enough- but butter and rice vinegar? That seems weird. Make sure your face isn't over the pan when you add in the vinegar unless you want your sinuses cleared! The sauce was tasty though. Very tasty- I ate some of it without any beans. The sugar and onions give it a sweetness, while the vinegar tones it down a bit and the browned butter gives it a nuttiness (It's true- those food network people are right about browned butter!). And as the hubby said- the beans make it nutritious and the bacon makes it AWESOME. What vegetable can't bacon make better? (Not that green beans needed it- buy hey!)
So my only changes to this recipe was lowering the amount of beans and changing the sauce recipe just a tad. I lowered the amount of butter, which in the end makes less sauce than the original- perfect for my smaller amount of beans.

Green Bean Bundles (serves 5)
http://www.ourbestbites.com/

1/1 lb. fresh green beans (50-60 beans)- ends trimmed off and washed
5 slices of bacon
1 1/2 tbl. butter
1 tbl. minced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbl. sugar
1 tbl. rice vinegar

Preheat oven (or toaster oven!!) to 400 degrees.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Once the water reaches the boil- add in the green beans and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Take the beans out of the boiling water and dump into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
Divide thebeans into 5 bundles and wrap each one with a slice of bacon. Use a toothpick to secure it and lay it on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the bacon has cooked through.
Torwards the end of the baking tim- start making the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat.  Add the onion and garlic and stir around for 2-3 minutes until the butter bubbles up a bunch and starts turning brown. Add the sugar and vinegar and immediately take the sauce off of the heat. Stir everything around to dissolve the sugar and serve on top of the bundles. Just remember to take out the toothpick before eating! Enjoy!

This tasty side dish is linked up at:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tuesdays at the Table at All The Small Stuff
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• July Side Dish Showdown at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice
• Delicious Dishes at itsablogparty.com
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum