by Chef Adam Lambay
The garden is producing like crazy. We picked over 6 lbs of green beans the other night so I challenged Chef Adam to come up with a different way we can make them. He was up to the challenge. These are super easy to make and super delicious. You’ll want to have all your ingredients measured and set out before you start cooking because it goes together very quickly. Oh, did I mention these are low carb and full of flavor?!
Ingredients:
1 lb Fresh Green Beans, tips cut off, left whole
1 tsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Sesame Seeds, regular, black or both (we used both)
1 Tbsp Ginger-Garlic Puree (see note below)
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Soy Sauce
Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
Salt to Taste
Note: You can make the ginger/garlic puree yourself or you can purchase tubes of paste. We like to make our own in large batches and freeze in ice cube trays. We use them in lots of recipes. But we won’t judge if you go for convenience using ready-made.
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stock pot. Wash the beans and drop them into the boiling water and cook for 1-3 minutes, depending on how crunchy or soft you prefer your beans. Remove the pot from the stove and strain the beans in a colander. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or a large skillet. Add the sesame seeds and when the seeds pop, which will be almost immediately, add the ginger-garlic puree. Stir fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Careful as it’s going to spit and pop at you! Add the sesame oil and soy sauce. Turn off the heat. Quickly add the green beans, toss to coat and season with crushed red pepper and salt, if desired. Pour the beans into a bowl and watch them disappear into your family’s bellies .
Serves 4 – approximately 8 g net carbs
Note: A Life Well Eaten follows diabetic educator guidelines for determining net carbs.
Suggested formula is total carbs minus half the fiber, i.e. 16g carbs and 4g fiber would be 14g net carbs. The food industry determines net carbs as total carbs minus fiber which would come in at 12g net carbs.