By Sarah Condley

Sun columnist

I’ve attempted green bundles in the past and they were a disaster.

By the time the bacon was done, the green beans were shriveled and tough.

I decided to give them another try after making a trip to our garden and seeing how bad it was.

The six rows of beans we planted only had a hand full of beans on them after all the rain in the spring and now the hot dry days.

The soil in the garden was dry and cracks were everywhere.

The weather has wreaked havoc on our garden hopes; though we haven’t given up.

Brad mowed down the remaining bean plants and we’ve started again. We are hoping to have lots of beans to can for the fall and winter.

Since there weren’t enough green beans to cook like I normally do, I thought of green bean bundles.

I turned on the computer and started searching for recipes. I read several before settling on today’s recipe from dinneratthezoo.com.

I chose this one because it required blanching the beans and precooking the bacon. I had a feeling this combination would make for a successful side dish for supper.

Green Bean Bundles

INGREDIENTS

— 1 1/4 pounds green beans, look for thinner green beans or use French green beans

— 6 slices bacon, cut in half, do not use thick cut bacon

— 1 teaspoon garlic salt, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt

— 1/4 cup butter, melted

— 2 tablespoons brown sugar

— 1/2 teaspoon pepper

— 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, optional

— Cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the bacon on a sheet pan and bake for seven minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven.

Trim the ends of the green beans. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Place the green beans in the pot and cook for two to three minutes until just tender. Drain and put the green beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Pat the green beans dry.

In a small bowl mix together the garlic salt, butter, brown sugar and pepper. Pour the butter mixture over the green beans and toss to coat.

Wrap eight to 10 green beans with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Place the green bean bundles on a sheet pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bacon is crispy.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

We always have bacon. It’s a staple in our household.

I cooked several slices, but didn’t let them get crispy, which is how I like bacon. Brad sometimes says I like it burnt because its so crispy.

While the bacon was cooking, I blanched the green beans.

After submerging the blanched beans in ice water to cool, I dried them with paper towels and set them aside.

Once all the bacon was cooked and cooled a bit, I cut each piece in half.

I mixed the garlic salt, butter, brown sugar and pepper in a medium size bowl. Instead of pouring the mixture over the beans, I just added the beans to the liquid mixture and tossed them to coat.

I lined my baking sheet with a Silpat mat instead of using cooking spray on a baking sheet.

Cooking spray tends to make clean up harder because it gets gummy on the pan.

I gathered some beans in my hand, wrapped then with a half piece of the semi-cooked bacon and placed them seam side down on the baking sheet.

I didn’t bother with the toothpick. I thought that would be a waste of a toothpick.

I ended up with six bundles.

I put the pan in the oven and waited for them to bake.

I checked on them after 15 minutes. They looked good, but the bacon wasn’t quite crispy enough for me.

After five more minutes, the bacon looked crisp and I took them out of the oven.

These things were so good they could become addictive. Brad and I both really liked them.

Not only did the bacon get crisp, the beans were tender and had a great flavor.

I thought we’d have enough green bundles for Brad’s lunch the next day, but we could not stop eating them.

This is a nailed it recipe, and it’s already in my self-made cookbook.

I’m anxiously awaiting our new crop of green beans from the garden.

The secret to green bundles is definitely blanching the beans and cooking the bacon in advance.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.