Green Beans

A week or so ago Terri in WI forwarded a recipe that was loaded full of broccoli and cauliflower...neither of which get much appreciation from me. But the basis of the recipe was the sauce and the suggestion to work around with the veg element. Having had a Szechaun Green Bean in Chicago I loved (I owe you all a wrap-up of that trip and the food). And they are a favorite from Spices in Cleveland Park, I decided to give the recipe a shot with just green beans.

Szechuan Green Beans
serves 4-6 as a side

6 cups green beans, ends trimmed
3 TB oyster sauce
1 TB water
1/4 tsp chili paste or red pepper flakes
1 TB olive oil
1 TB peeled and minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green (spring) onion, green top only, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Bring a large saucepan 3/4 full of water to a boil. Add the green beans and return to a boil. Cook until the beans are tender-crisp, about 2-3 minute. Drain them and plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the oyster sauce, water and chili paste. Set aside.

In a large, heavy nonstick frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Don't let the garlic brown. Add the beans and saute until just tender, about 2 minutes. Add the oyster sauce mixture and toss until the sauce is evenly distributed and the mixture is heated through, about 1 minute.

Transfer to a warmed serving dish and garnish with the green onion. Serve immediately.

Feedback: These were all right. Not great. But not awful. Giant had a poor selection of green beans, so I went with frozen. I'm going to say the final outcome was less then perfect because of the frozen green beans. I'll try these again, hopefully with some great fresh green beans and have much better results. I might also try adding a little soy or hoisin to the sauce mix for a wee bit more flavor? We'll see.

We had the green beans with a tasty Thai style beef dish. Stay tuned for more on that.