Taste of Home Maple Glazed Cranberry Green Beans

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Time seems to be going much too fast these days. We had a really nice Thanksgiving at our house with family, friends and some delicious food from start to finish. Needless to say, I went to bed tired and stuffed from the day but that was okay with me as I could take the next couple days off! No Black Friday shopping for me but watch out cyber Monday!

So this is another Taste of Home recipe that has been gaining a lot of attention and I can see why! Although this recipe calls for steaming the fresh green beans I turned it into a one-pot dish by using the frozen green beans in the steam bags and putting my microwave into action. I did not put the bourbon in just because I did not have any.  This is a simple tasty dish, great for any holiday side dish. It will be making a second presence on my table at Christmas. This dish is perfect to make while the turkey rests!

INGREDIENTS
3 cups fresh green beans or 2 bags of frozen green beans in the steamable bags
1 large onion chopped
4 bacon strips cut into 1-inch strips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon bourbon-optional

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, place steamer basket over 1 inch of water. Place beans in the basket. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a low boil, steam, covered until crisp-tender. 4-5 minutes. Or do what I did and buy the frozen bags, steam according to the package.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook onion and bacon over medium heat until the bacon has crisped through. Drain bacon fat if necessary. Add the cranberries, syrup, salt, pepper, and bourbon, if desired. Add beans to the bacon-onion mixture heating through and tossing to combine. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Enjoy!