Bacon is good. Bacon with tart cherry balsamic glaze is even better. The nice thing about this dish is that once you pour this delicious glaze over a pile of healthy green beans, and you don’t even have to feel guilty about the bacon.
This is easy enough to be thrown together for a weeknight meal, but after you taste it you’ll want to serve it at a dinner party. It might even find its way to your holiday table. It’s that good.
If you’re not a fan of green beans, or if you tend to prefer meat with your bacon, try this glaze spooned over a grilled pork tenderloin – trust me, you’ll love it.
Green Beans with Tart Cherry Balsamic Glaze
3 slices bacon
1 small shallot, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup dried tart cherries
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 pound green beans, trimmed and rinsed
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In a saute pan, cook the bacon until brown and crisp. Remove bacon and let drain on a paper towel then remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings from the pan. Add shallots to the pan and let cook over medium-low heat for a few minutes until softened and just starting to brown. Add chicken broth and stir up any brown bits left from the bacon. Add cherries and balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally until thick and syrupy, 15-20 minutes.
While glaze is reducing, steam green beans until crisp-tender. When glaze is reduced to a syrupy state, season to taste with salt and pepper. Add steamed green beans to pan with the glaze and toss until they are lightly coated. Remove green beans to a platter using tongs, then pour remaining glaze and cherries over the top of the beans. Crumble the bacon slices over the beans and serve.
Yield: 4 servings
Quantity on the cherries? Variety?
3:21 am Jun 14th, 2010Thanks,
-k-
Looks great ! Noticed that no cherries are mentioned in the ingredients list. How many cherries did you use? Thanks for posting…am anxious to try this one!
3:21 am Jun 14th, 2010Looks delicious, but where are the cherries
3:30 am Jun 14th, 2010sounds like a great way to serve green beans!! you had me at the bacon, but adding a balsamic cherry glaze just pushes it over the top!
3:41 am Jun 14th, 2010Incomplete list of ingredients: cherries missing. What type, how much? Isn’t that the KEY ingredient?
3:48 am Jun 14th, 2010Like others – looking for the cherries?!
3:58 am Jun 14th, 2010I’m so anxious to try this recipe. Please send me the quantity and type of cherries!
Thanks, Vicki
4:22 am Jun 14th, 2010Cherry season will soon be upon us:D
5:06 am Jun 14th, 2010I’m guessing those are dried cherries? I love the sharp tang of dried cherries. I think they would compliment the green beans well.
5:06 am Jun 14th, 2010Looks great, but waiting in line for the cherry info.
5:47 am Jun 14th, 2010Looks absolutely delicious – what is the quantity of the cherries?
Thanks
6:27 am Jun 14th, 2010Joellen
I’ll take a stab and guess 1/2 Cup on the cherries right? You can probably adjust it to your cherry lovingness.
Great recipe!
6:43 am Jun 14th, 2010Ooooops! Sorry about the missing ingredient on the list! It’s fixed now. I used dried tart Montmorency cherries. As Nick mentioned, you can use as many as you want – but remember that they will plump up a lot in the sauce.
6:46 am Jun 14th, 2010Cherries: somewhere between a skosh and a handful. I’m guessing there’s no wrong answer.
Recipes always say “salt and pepper to taste.” Surely we can figure out how to “cherry to taste.”
7:13 am Jun 14th, 2010My daughter constantly reminds me to list all the ingredients so she doesn’t forget to purchase the right ingredients. She says I have done this with several recipes – particularly the ones that I make a lot. Thanks for your web page stuff – very enjoyable and good recipes.
7:28 am Jun 14th, 2010Yum! I’m suddenly very sad that I used the last of the green beans from my CSA last night – I’ll have to run out and get more!
7:37 am Jun 14th, 2010mmm, that looks deliciouso!
9:49 am Jun 14th, 2010I never feel guilty about bacon, but my kids always make me feel guilty about green beans…
10:22 am Jun 14th, 2010How about adding some smoked or roasted duck breast to this recipe??? Or is that another of my crazy idea….
10:34 am Jun 14th, 2010That sauce sounds like it would be absolutely perfect with pork tenderloin! I love balsamic vinegar. And green beans. And who doesn’t love bacon. Mmm.
10:40 am Jun 14th, 2010oh my gosh those look so good!
3:36 pm Jun 14th, 2010Yum! This sounds like a must-try! Bacon and balsamic glaze – what could be bad?!
7:00 pm Jun 14th, 2010[...] and recipe via Pinch My Salt – go check them [...]
6:53 pm Jun 15th, 2010Looks delicious, I know I will give it a try. The Bread Bakers Challenge sounds very interesting too.
8:58 am Jun 16th, 2010This looks very good. I love recipes that allow me to use the beans from my garden. Thanks for posting.
10:11 am Jun 16th, 2010Where would one find dried tart cherries?
4:04 pm Jun 16th, 2010Mrs. L: You should be able to find tart cherries in the grocery store near the raisins and other dried fruit. I usually buy mine at Trader Joe’s.
4:13 pm Jun 16th, 2010[...] Green Beans with Bacon and Tart Cherry Balsamic Glaze [...]
6:55 am Jul 12th, 2010When do you add the brown sugar? When you add the cherries and the vinegar? Did I miss a step?
6:39 pm Aug 22nd, 2010