The first Friday Night Dinner, which was a few weeks ago now, involved a whole bunch of herbs.  There was sage and thyme in the Sage and Onion Pork, more thyme in the Celery Leek Stir-fry, and then tarragon added liberally to the green beans.  I do love me some herbage – they can transform ordinary to awesome with a swift shake of the spice jar or chop, chop, chop of the knife.  I like fresh best, but dried have their place in the kitchen, especially in winter when the Marmalade HQ herb garden has gone into hibernation.  I’m already missing being able to toddle out onto the terrace to pluck fresh leaves, and my purse is groaning at the cost of buying fresh from the store.  Roll on, Spring!

You can get the Celery Leek Stir-fry recipe in my Eat Smarter! Smoothies and Sides Cookbook.  Actually, it is the recipe that graces the cover of the book.  I discovered when I concocted the recipe last December that celery makes leeks better.  I know, right?!  Did you have any notion that was even possible?  Me either.  I love good surprises.

Let’s get back to the green beans.  This recipe is – as many of the best are – very simple.  A few ingredients, a few minutes of cooking.

Wildman, who was that particular Friday Night Dinners guinea pig has a penchant for green beans that runs very deep.  I don’t know the back story – I just know that he loves them.  I wanted to see if I could make him love them even more, and apparently I succeeded as he is still talking about these green beans several weeks later.  I do love it when my food makes people happy, but really I can take no credit for slinging a few tasty things in a pan and heating them up.

I’ll be the first to admit that green beans are not my favorite, but since tarragon makes my heart beat a little faster and my nostrils perk right up, I was banking on me ending the night liking green beans a little bit more.  I was not disappointed.