Ginger Garlic Green Beans

A few days back, when I planned on preparing the miso glazed salmon, I wanted a light fresh side to accompany. I had meant to grab unshelled edamame while we were shopping. Unfortunatley the little podded soy beans never made it into our cart.

In a pinch, I grabbed the nearest green veggie from our freezer and dug up this recipe online.

adapted from Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez on Epicurious

serves 4

The Ingredients:
1 lb green beans, trimmed
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp grated peeled ginger
2 tsp rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp Asian sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

The Process:
Cook beans in a 6-quart pot of boiling well-salted water, uncovered, until just tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Drain in a colander, then plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking. Drain beans and pat dry.

While beans cook, mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt, then stir together with soy sauce, ginger, vinegar, and oils in a large bowl.

Add beans and toss. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.

My Modifications:
It is still too early in the spring to find quality green beans. Our farmers market had just kicked off the Saturday before, with little produce to be had. And the "fresh" offerings from our grocer's produced seemed far from it. I opted to use what I had on hand, which happened to be cut green beans. They don't look quite as elegant, and didn't keep their crispness quite as well, but they did the trick.

The Review:
I would really have preferred to try this recipe with fresh green beans. As the growing season continues I'm certainly many an opportunity to do just that will present itself. Yet as prepared using frozen green beans, this side fit the bill perfectly. The ginger was a touch over powering, but I attribute that to how coarsely I ended up mincing the root. A little more time under hte knife next time. But the side was light, green, full of flavor and easy to prepare. I couldn't ask for a much better accompaniment for our miso glazed salmon.