A lot of the heirloom recipes on this site come from my mom’s old recipe index card box, and I’ve joked before that she actually made very few of the recipes in that collection. But this dish is the opposite — she made it a lot, and she didn’t keep a written recipe for it. And it might be my favorite dish of hers.

It’s great for summer evenings with corn on the cob (as seen in the photo above), or as a Thanksgiving-grade side dish. I remember one extended family Thanksgiving when my mom brought this to my Aunt Jane’s house. My Aunt Joann was visiting from her health-conscious family in California and said, “Don’t tell my husband that I ate these!”

And, yeah, there’s bacon, which can be bad news for vegetarians or people who otherwise don’t eat pork or fatty foods. But if you don’t mind a little bacon, these are so amazingly good!

~1 lb. green beans (fresh is best, but frozen is okay in the off season)
1 medium onion or 2 shallots
3-4 slices bacon
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce

Cut off the ends of the green beans and dice the onion/shallots. Cut the bacon into half-inch-wide strips. If the pieces are fairly wide, cut them lengthwise as well.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat and add the bacon. Let it cook for a couple minutes, then add the onion. Stir and cook for a couple more minutes, until there is enough melted bacon fat to coat the bottom of the pan.

Add the green beans, stir, and cover. Reduce the heat to low-medium and simmer for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The trick to this recipe is to have patience while you cook the green beans, as they need time depending on how much you want them to cook down. You can test one and decide if it’s too underdone (squeaky when you bite into it), a little crunchy (good), or wrinkling (also good, but possibly overdone for some people).

Take the lid off and add the soy sauce. Stir to coat and simmer uncovered for another minute or so to absorb the liquid, then remove from heat.