Roasted Green Beans with Roasted Garlic and Sumac

I had a salad that I bought from the International Market in Portland that I really liked. It was Green Beans that had clearly been roasted with big roasted Garlic Cloves and a sprinkling of Sumac on top. Sumac is made from a dried tart berry and is used a lot in Middle Eastern cooking. I particularly like it with Kebabs. And, this dish gave me another reason to use it. I recreated these Green Beans and I changed it up a bit (of course!) and roasted the Garlic Cloves more so that they became soft enough to mash with a little Olive and then they became a kind of dressing. I don't know why, but I just prefer roasted Garlic spreadable on toast and don't love biting into big pieces. This way, I still got all that wonderful Garlic flavor but in a creamier texture. I also added a little Lemon as the Sumac gives it just a hint of a sour flavor and I think the Lemon enhances it a lot. This dish was so good that I wanted to eat the whole bowl myself. I actually kept picking at it before I photographed it so there's already some missing!  It was incredibly easy to make as the oven did most of the work. The Garlic took 45 minutes and then the Green Beans cooked the last 15 minutes of that time so then all that was required was to put it together. By the way, this dish is it is really good both hot and cold.  I will be making this dish over and over again!

Roasted Green Beans with Roasted Garlic and Sumac

1 whole Garlic, top 1/2 cut off

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 pound of Green Beans, washed and ends removed, snapped in half (discard any that don't snap)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

2 teaspoons Sumac

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the Garlic in a piece of Aluminum foil large enough to enclose it. Drizzle the Olive Oil over the cut top and then enclose it completely. Place on a small oven pan and cook for 30 minutes. Then place the Green Beans on a large baking pan and drizzle with the Olive Oil and Salt. Roast for 15 minutes, tossing and turning every 5 minutes. Remove the Garlic and the Green Beans from the Oven.

Place the Green Beans in a large bowl. In a small bowl, squeeze out the Roasted Garlic and mash (or leave whole). Add the Olive Oil and Lemon Juice and stir to combine. Pour over the Green Beans and toss to coat. Sprinkle with Sumac to serve.

Five Element Analysis

Green Beans belong to the Wood Element and the Olive Oil and Lemon Juice add even more. So this is a very Wood dish.  The Roasted Garlic is from the Metal Element except that it cooks so long that it becomes caramelized, making more Earthy. However, overall, this is a good contributor of the Wood Element in a meal.