Sweet Southern Green Beans, sugar-free & gluten-free

These green beans are so easy to make. With so much produce from my local CSA, I have been spending a lot of time in my kitchen! I know I should just get a 1/2 share of veggies since we are only two people. But I am freezing half of what I've got so that in the winter, I can still enjoy local organic vegetables. It saves me money and dramatically reduces my carbon footprint.
These only take time to bake and are very easy. They are sweet from the onions, which will caramelize in the oven, no sugar required. I use bacon grease, an old southern staple. The bacon grease I use I save from my organically fed, pasture raised pork from a great farm in PA. The difference in the bacon lard compared to what I used to collect from regular bacon, and even "naturally raised" bacon is unbelievable. It even looks so much purer, is almost white in color instead of dark grey. I'm not sure what that means but I am sure it means something! These pigs aren't stressed or fed garbage. They are treated well, live happily, and fed organic and healthy-for-pigs food only. If you don't eat pork, use organic butter. If you are freaked out by using lard, read one of the books I recommend on the bottom right of this blog... or one of these articles (I'm talking to you, Mom! xoxo) here, here, here, or here.

Sweet Southern Green Beans

a few Tablespoons of bacon grease
2 cups of fresh organic green beans, ends trimmed, rinsed, and dried
one medium yellow or sweet onion
2 med cloves of garlic
a few shakes of Tamari wheat-free soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil (opt)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper
Chili pepper flakes

Slice the onion in 1/2" - 1" rings. Slice the garlic vertically in medium-thin slices. Place in the bottom of a casserole dish with garlic and bacon grease. Add green beans, Tamari, sesame oil, and spices. Bake in oven at 425 degrees for 40 - 60 minutes, shaking the pan a few times in between to stir beans around in the oils and soy sauce.