Might not be the healthiest green beans but they are really yummy.  Good things happen when you add bacon to things.  My daughter always says, evereything is better with butter and bacon.  I think I agree.  I got this recipe from an old friend who no longer speaks to me.  Glad she shared the recipe before she stopped talking to  me.  There are loads of fresh green beans available right now and this makes a perfect side to almost any main dish.

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh green beans cut into 2-3 inch pieces

4 slices of bacon diced

1 medium sweet onion diced

1 T reserved bacon drippings

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 cup water

1 T brown sugar

1 T cider vinegar

Steam green beans just until tender.  If you have someone in your family who likes their green beans overcooked, keep steaming until you consider them done.  Cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Drain and reserve about 1 T of bacon drippings.

Cook diced onion in the reserved drippings until tender but not browned.

Whisk together cornstarch, salt, mustard and water.  Stir into the onions and simmer until thickened.  Happens quickly.

Stir in brown sugar and vinegar.

Add the steamed green beans and heat thoroughly.

Top with bacon bits and serve immediately.

I served the green beans with lightly breaded and baked lake trout but these would be excellent with pork chops, meat loaf, fried chicken.

NOTE:  My mother always saved bacon drippings in a metal container that said
“GREASE” on it.  She kept it in the cupboard, unrefrigerated.  It had a kind of basting brush in the container and she would brush the top of fresh baked bread with it, grease baking casseroles, etc.  All of the savory dishes we use PAM for she used her container of bacon grease.  And we all lived to tell about it.  I still save bacon drippings and use them frequently to saute onions and other veggies.  However, I keep my bacon drippings in the refrigerator.