We had our friend Cassie from Eugene and our friends Lyndie, John, and Sophia (happy 1st birthday, Sophia!) from Portland over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and tasked Lyndie with a very general ‘bring something green’ request, which we can do with Lyndie because she’s a fabulous cook and has superior taste.

Not one to dissapoint, she arrived with about 3 pounds of fresh Green Beans. We brainstormed some ideas on how to prepare them and zeroed in on a quick sauté with some crispy little bits of pancetta. After a quick trip to the Roth’s by our house we were all set with about 4 ounces of lovely, round Pancetta slices.

We had some leftover Roasted Hazlenuts from a meal a week or so earlier which we kind of threw in as an afterthought, but which added a nice, warm, earthy flavor that was great with the Beans. And they added a little extra crunch. You could omit them if you wanted to and it wouldn’t be too detrimental to the dish. Read more »

Yesterday we knocked out a super good vinaigrette to go with nummy Pancetta Pear and Arugula Salad. The salad is pretty basic and is based on this recipe from Epicurious. But the vinaigrette was our own creation… Read more »