Ginger Green Beans

2 tblsps grated fresh ginger
1 pound of fresh green beans, washed with ends snipped and then broken into bite size pieces
1-2 tblsp olive or vegetable oil
splash of sesame oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste
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**Optional additions…
1 cup of shitake mushrooms, chopped roughly
1/2 a medium sized onion, chopped roughly

I use a non-stick, flat bottomed “wok” pan for this recipe.

Heat the pan on high heat. Add the olive (or vegetable) oil and heat until very hot. Add the green beans and stir. The tendency here because of the high heat is to keep moving the food around as you would in a stir fry, but every so often I stop stirring and let the beans rest in the pan. That way some caramelization of the beans begins to happen, which is what you want. Once it looks like your beans are on the verge of being the consistency you like them (some prefer them more firm, and others more soft), quickly add the fresh ginger and the dollop of sesame oil. Then continuously stir until the rawness of the ginger is gone and all the beans are evenly coated with ginger. Remove the pan from the heat and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.


**Regarding optional additions...
As a variation, after adding the olive (or vegetable) oil and heating it until it is very hot, first add the chopped onion and the shitake mushrooms. Stir them as instructed for the beans (i.e. stir them but let them rest every so often to allow for caramelization). Once they have just begun to caramelize, continue on with the recipe as written above.