Cheese

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa

I recently received the cookbook The Naptime Chef by the awesome food blogger Kelsey Banfield. I have been a fan of Kelsey’s for some time and have been eager to get my hands on her beautiful book. I choose a simple and extremely adaptable recipe for green beans and added a few of my very own spins. I love taking the simple and dressing it up with all kinds of ribbons and bows. In the book Kelsey has a simple, classic side dish recipe: Green Beans with Toasted Almonds, Olive Oil and Sea Salt. Perfect as is.

I took this great concept and made it into a full vegetarian/meatless meal. Now you have a few ways to get more veggies into your day!

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa Recipe | MarlaMeridith.com

Thee green beans can be served long and lean. You can also chop them into fun, little bite-sized pieces. If you do this, then with each bite you get beans, quinoa, nuts and blue cheese! Heavenly I tell ya.

Have you ever noticed how by simply changing up the way you slice something makes it so much more fun?! Try that from time to time with your veggies. Big impact for very little effort.

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa Recipe | MarlaMeridith.com

For this recipe, I switched up the almonds to walnuts, the olive oil to walnut oil. The cheese and quinoa make it a full meal heftier side dish.

If blue cheese is not your thing, how about feta or shaved parmesan? Anything you desire…

I love olive oil, but I also keep many flavored oils in my fridge as well. Have you ever tried walnut, hazelnut or pecan oil? If not you must. They don’t handle high heat too well, but they are great finishing oils as they add lots of nutty flavor.

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa Recipe | MarlaMeridith.com

The recipes in The Naptime Chef cookbook are simple, diverse and the content is well laid out so you can cook up healthy meals for your family in hardly any time at all. On the book cover, it says Fitting Great Food into Family Life. Over here at MarlaMeridith.com that makes a whole lot of sense. We always make time to prepare great food for every single meal of each day.

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa Recipe | MarlaMeridith.com

Thinking and planning ahead makes meal time a lot less chaotic. Kelsey has a “naptime stopwatch” for every recipe so you know what kind of timing you are up against. Neat huh!

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa Recipe | MarlaMeridith.com

No matter what is going on in our lives, great food is essential & planning out the time to prepare it is mandatory.

Be assured that the ingredient lists are kept to a minimum, but the recipes created by Kelsey are bursting with flavor and style. The photographs in the book are lovely too!

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa Recipe | MarlaMeridith.com

From breakfasts to soups and stews, desserts, drinks, breads, main dishes to a great list of pantry staples…Kelsey will set you in the right direction to making those wonderful meals.

What is your favorite recipe using vegetables?

Click HERE for Recipe Details.

MarlaMeridith.com Cookbook review and giveaway

 

 

Green Bean Recipe Links 

MarlaMeridith.com Disclosure: I was sent a review copy of this wonderful cookbook. All comments, thoughts, opinions, and photographs (other than the book jacket) are my own.

~ Marla Meridith

Join the Conversation

111 thoughts on “Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Quinoa

  1. I am already following you on Pinterest and I had already pinned this post before realizing it was a giveaway entry criterion! 🙂

  2. I have so many of your recipes pinned on Pinterest, it’s hard to choose one that I would like to try! My most recent “love” has been the Roasted Strawberry Sandwich Cookies.

  3. What a great, simple, healthful recipe! I love it. And you’re so right that simply how you cut something can totally change the whole experience. It’s good to keep in mind. This looks like a wonderful recipe.

  4. This looks delicious and I think my kids might actually eat it too! Can’t wait to try it. And I soooo need this cookbook!

  5. I just found your site a few days ago so I haven’t tried anything yet, but I have the chicken curry with sweet potato on the menu for next Monday. Looking forward to trying it and many more in the future.

  6. I’m an email subscriber. Yum! Throw some grilled fish or chicken on there and presto! dinner! Delicious! Spring is in the air. Love it. Pretty pics Marla! xo

  7. This is absolutely beautiful! I love the bright green of the green beans, it’s so refreshing! My family will love this recipe [:

  8. Creative way to share this giveaway: liked this post on facebook, also told my coworkers and sisters to enter

  9. Thank you…I’m new to clean eating and would love to be more inspired by this new book…I’m following you and Naptime Chef

  10. I follow your RSS feed and I just copied the almond chickpea flour cookie recipe – will likely make it this week and posted your link on my facebook page as well.