Green Bean Bacon Bundles

              makes about 10-12 bundles *I made 14

1 pound fresh green beans

10-12 slices of thick-cut bacon  *I used regular bacon

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced  *I only used one

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Wash and thoroughly dry green beans, then season with salt and pepper. Bundle together about 5-8 green beans – this will depend on your size of beans and the amount of beans you get for one pound. Bundle together as many as you’d like! Using a slice of bacon, wrap it around the center of the beans to hold it together. Lay the bundle bacon seam side down in the baking dish to hold it together. Repeat with remaining beans.

Heat a small saucepan over low heat. Add butter, brown sugar and garlic and whisk until melted and combined. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over top of each green bean bundle. Cover the bundles with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 (it took more like 25 minutes for me to get the bacon somewhat crisp, and I still ended up putting it under the broiler for a minute) minutes more, just until bacon gets crispy.

Verdict?  Bacon makes everything delicious. Even vegetables. 

The only thing for me is that I baked them in a casserole dish, and the beans cooked in all that grease.  Which may be the point, but the green beans absorb a lot of that grease, which obviously is not good for you.  I think when (when, not if) I make them again, I'll cook them in a roasting pan, with the wire rack, so the beans still get the juices of the bacon while it's cooking, but a majority will drip down into the pan.  That should also get the bacon crispier without having to broil it.  (b/c I almost always burn everything I put under the broiler - see 1st pic)

These were definitely a winner with the hubs, not so much with the kids.  But as you may have noticed, my kids don't like anything!

 from the blog How Sweet It Is