In our recent Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, we received 5 fistfuls (about a pound) of fresh green beans. I cleaned them, put them in a large ziploc bag in the fridge until I could be struck by inspiration.
I was doing the end-of-week veg prep Sunday morning (to make room for the new box arriving Monday), and I came across the green beans. I was watching tik tok last night and saw a video for spicy green beans. I decided to give it a go.
To start, I searched online for a bunch of recipes and Frankestein’d together a recipe using what we had on hand, which wasn’t much. Our fridge died last summer and I still haven’t replaced all of the condiments, in part because of supply chain issues, and also because of freaking inflation.
Spicy Szechuan Style Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
- 2 T. your favorite cooking oil (I used grapeseed)
- 2 T. Diced Garlic (It’s ok to use the stuff in a jar)
- 1 T. Chili Paste or Sriracha (whatever you have)
- 2 t. onion powder
- 1 green onion, white and light green parts only
- 3 T. Soy sauce (I used low sodium)
- 1/4 c. water
- 1 T. rice vinegar (or white- whatever you have)
- Juice of half an orange
Optional, but tasty
- Sesame Seeds
- Red Pepper Flakes
Directions
- In a large pan or wok, heat oil.
- Cook green beans for 5-8 minutes, or until they start to brown and wilt. If your green beans have been stored in the fridge, it will take longer.
- While the beans cook, add the 1 T. garlic, chili paste, onion powder, and green onion to a small bowl and combine.
- After the beans have browned and wilted, add the chili/garlic mixture and combine/coat the green beans. Cook for 3-ish minutes on medium until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the remaining liquid ingredients (I poured all of them into a mixing cup and set it aside until this step, but you can pour them directly into the pan/wok), cooking on low until some of the water evaporates. Remove from heat, and add sesame seeds and red pepper flakes (less than 1 tablespoon each).
This is a great side dish for any Asian food. I served it for breakfast -grown ups only- over basmati rice, topped with a jammy egg. It was very filling.
This recipe is vegan/vegetarian. If you are sensitive to gluten, replace your soy with tamari or coconut aminos.
This offer was in my inbox this morning. I’m allergic to shrimp, but hopefully one of you will take advantage of this deal!
If you are vegan, 
As far as noodles, you can get regular ramen noodles at any Asian grocery store (or most 99 Cents Only locations). I’m not talking about the kind that come in a little bag with a pouch of salty broth, those are fried so they cook super fast and aren’t really all that healthy.
Hewes Family Fun 