One of my favorite summer meals is a combo of green beans, potatoes and ham. My grandma makes it and it's always made with green beans from her friend Roberta's garden. Roberta's garden usually produces a ton of green beans so making this is a summer necessity. I know Roberta usually cans quite a few green beans, too. Which is great because it's a scrumptious thing to have farm-fresh green beans in the dead of winter. About three summers ago my grandma and Roberta took the afternoon to teach me how to can green beans. Not going to lie - it was a little intimidating - but I think I'm ready for a refresher course (hint hint hint if you're reading this, grandma!).
In this recipe I borrow from grandma's dish of green beans, potatoes, and ham - spice it up by substituting andouille sausage for ham, and add a sprinkle of cajun or creole seasoning. And instead of boiling the ingredients, I put it all into a cute little foil pouch and either cook it on the grill or in the oven. It's super easy to make, the kids can help, and since the recipe cooks in foil there is little clean up involved. It's a great week-night recipe featuring a ton on in-season ingredients that the whole family will enjoy!
I've put an * by the items I can purchase at my Illinois farmers market.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound of smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced*
1 pound baby blue, white, or red potatoes (quarter if they're big babies)*
1 pound green beans, trimmed*
1 red onion, thinly sliced*
4 tablespoons butter, divided into 1 tablespoon slices
4 teaspoons cajun or creole seasoning*
Maldon salt flakes and freshly ground pepper (about four pinches of each)
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish at serving*
DIRECTIONS
If you're grilling, preheat the gas or charcoal grill over high heat. If you're baking, then pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
Prepare the foil packets by cutting four 12" sheets of foil. Divide the sausage, potatoes, green beans, and onion into four equal portions and add to the center of each 12" foil. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon seasoning, and a pinch of salt and pepper to each portion. Gently mix to combine.
Fold the sides of the foil over the mixture, being sure to completely cover and seal close the packets.
Gently place the packets on the grill. If baking, place the packets on a cookie sheet just to ensure no juices sneak out.
Grill for about 15 minutes. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Be careful opening the packets. Serve with a garnish of the chopped parsley.
Note: You can also add quartered cobs of sweet corn to the mix and swap out the smoked andouille sausage for any other sausage. We also enjoy turkey or chicken sausage!
Serving size: 4 packets