May 10, 2016

Garlic Sesame Green Beans

Name: Garlic Sesame Green Beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1.5 lb fresh green beans; 1/4 cup coconut aminos; 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil; 1 tbsp pure maple syrup; 3 large garlic clove (minced); 1 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp sambal oelek; 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt; 1/4 tsp ground white pepper; 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

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I’m so super crazy happy with these Garlic Sesame Green Beans!!! I know, you’re probably thinking “Euh, what gives? They’re only beans, what’s there to be so excited about?”. Well, Garlic Sesame Green Beans happen to be one of my daughter’s favorites, and whenever we go to our favorite Asian food joint together, she always orders a big plateful and most of the time ends up eating the whole thing to herself! Partly because I, myself, never really cared much for them, but also because she loves them so much, they usually disappear pretty quick, before I even have time to perhaps, maybe develop some kind of an interest in them…

Well, I had a great big bag of green beans that had been sitting in my fridge for a few days and I wasn’t really inspired as to what to do with them. Funny thing is as much as my daughter LOVES green beans and will eat them by the poundful if you let her, I myself am really not their biggest fan.

So, as I was saying, I had this great big bag sitting in my fridge, and I really didn’t know what to do with them. All I knew is I had to use them up, somehow, ‘cuz I wasn’t about to let them go to waste. And suddenly, I had a vision of those beans, those Asian beans that my daughter goes ga-ga for and I decided to try and replicate them.

You know what? Not only was I successful, but I think I like my version much better, too! For starters, they’re not quite as greasy as the originals, and my beans remain super crisp, on top of keeping their beautiful vibrant green color. As for their flavor, it’s a pretty darn close match, if you ask me: the sesame and garlic totally take the main floor, while a hint of spiced sweetness is brought forth thanks to the addition of ginger and maple syrup, and a pleasant little bite courtesy of the sambal oelek completes the deal.

I’m so super stoked that I’ve managed to find a recipe for green beans that I truly love, I’ve already bought another bag…

And this time, I’ll know EXACTLY what to do with it!

The first thing you need to do is steam the green beans until they turn a beautiful vibrant green but are still slightly undercooked, about 2 to 3 minutes.

You could also blanch them in salted boiling water if you preferred, just make sure that you don’t leave them in that water for too long… The goal at this point is to bring out the beans beautiful color and to soften them slightly.

As soon as that’s been accomplished, you need to stop the cooking as fast as possible, else the beans will just keep cooking and eventually get overly soft and turn a yucky shade of gray.

To fix their color and keep them super crisp, plunge them in a bath of icy cold water and move them around a little until they get really cold.

Once the beans are cold, drain them and leave them in the colander so they have a chance to drip and air dry.

While that’s happening, combine the coconut aminos, sesame oil, maple syrup, minced garlic, ground ginger, sambal oelek, salt and pepper together in a glass measuring cup; mix vigorously with a fork or flat whisk until well combined.

Then, heat a wok or large skillet over high heat and pour that sauce right into it; let the sauce cook on its own for about 30 seconds…

…then add the green beans and saute them until they are cooked to your liking, about 5 minutes total.

If you want to laugh a little, here’s me trying to capture a nice action shot of the green beans in mid-air.

All that does for me is make me realize that perhaps I should invest in new grates for my gas range… these ones are starting to show serious signs of age! Or maybe I should get a new range, altogether! HA! I like that idea much better!

As for the frozen action shot, I think I still need to work on that…

I probably better stick with photographing the beans while they’re calmly resting at the bottom of the wok!

And there you have it. It’s as easy as that. As soon as the beans are cooked to your liking, they are ready to serve!

If you feel like it, hit them with a teaspoon of sesame seeds before you do that…

Garlic Sesame Green Beans | thehealthyfoodie.com

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