To be honest, I am not a huge fan of green beans. The only time I ever really like them is battered and deep fried but by that point they’re barely a vegetable any more and definitely not a health food. And although I’m sure some kids eat green beans willingly for breakfast, lunch and dinner, mine prefer french fries…and I do too.

So I made my green beans into fries. Sort of. Healthy ones!

Baked Green Bean Fries
Serves 4

12 oz green beans
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)
Splash of water
1 cup Italian panko bread crumbs*
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and coat a rimmed cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

First you have to blanch the green beans, which sounds like a long, fancy, unnecessary step, but is easy and quick. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add a little salt. Toss in the green beans and boil for 3 minutes. As soon as the time is up, drain the beans in a colander and then put them in a bowl of ice water for at least 3 more minutes. They should still be green and crunchy.

Drain the beans again and pat them dry. Put them into a dry bowl, pour the flour over them and toss until they’re all coated. Put your egg in a bowl with a splash of water and scramble it, then put your bread crumbs and salt in another bowl. This next part is a little tedious but I tried doing it other ways and they didn’t work as well. Working a couple beans at a time, dip them in the egg mixture, then roll them in the bread crumbs until they are well coated. Put them on the cookie sheet. Repeat until they are all coated and in a single layer on the sheet (use another cookie sheet if you run out of space). Bake for 18-20 minutes until the coating starts to brown.

Serve with your choice of dipping sauce for little fingers or something spicy for grown ups (I dipped mine in Kraft Horseradish Dijon Mayo but if you were REALLY fancy you could make your own).

*If you wanted to make them spicy, add cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to the bread crumbs. I was trying to keep them kid friendly for the picky 3 year old (the baby loves spicy stuff).

Caroline approved!

I calculated the Weight Watchers Points Plus and each serving is only 2 points – so feel free to eat most of them in 1 sitting. Or all of them you can keep away from the kids. Enjoy!