Sesame Green Beans

Due to Larry’s forward-thinking late planting of green beans, we are still getting enough for a couple meals a week. Maybe it is knowing that they will soon be gone for another year that makes us savor every bite – or maybe it is this recipe! I used to make these for the girls when they were little. Not that I had to gussy up veggies to get them to eat theirs – freakish children that they were, they loved vegetables. Except lima beans – nothing I did with them convinced them that those were edible. It’s too bad we didn’t have Riley then, because he would have been happy to scarf down surreptitiously delivered limas. He loves green beans too [who could forget this?], but he didn’t get any of these.

To get started, wash, and cut the ends from about a pound to a pound and a half of fresh green beans.Put a couple cups of water in a 12 inch saute pan and bring to a boil. Spread the beans evenly in the pan, cover and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir the beans to redistribute them evenly in the pan, cover again and cook another 3 minutes. [these will be very crunchy still at this amount of cooking time – if you like your beans a bit less al dente, then let them go another another couple minutes] Remove from heat and drain, then empty the beans into very cold water to stop the cooking – I use my sink, but a bowl will work. When the beans are cool, spread them out on a kitchen towel to remove most of the water – they don’t have to be dry though.

Wipe out the saute pan and heat two tablespoons olive oil. To the oil, add 2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds. Shake the pan to spread them out and allow to cook for about a minute, over a medium flame. Reduce heat to low and add a large clove of garlic, minced finely. You want the garlic to cook without turning brown, so keep an eye on it. After about 2 minutes, add a couple tablespoons dark sesame oil and cook another minute. Add 1/4 cup Tamari sauce [Tamari is a fermented soy bean sauce, similar to soy sauce. You can use soy sauce if you like, but Tamari has a much better flavor in my opinion, and is well worth finding. I get mine at the health food store usually.] Stir and cook briefly and then add the beans, turning frequently with tongs, until they are hot through.These are great hot, at room tempurature and even cold, where they take on a more salad-like quality because the beans will still be nice and crunchy. Enjoy!