I didn’t actually plan on this whole week being kinda sorta Asian themed food; but it’s turned out that way; and what better way to wrap up a week of Pepper Steak, Vietnamese Barbecue Tacos (and the Dipping Sauce), and Crispity Sriracha and Pineapple Chicken than to bring back this surprisingly tasty recipe with canned green beans.
I really loved it the first time I made it, but this time I’ve made a few more tweaks and think it’s the best yet; check it out:
INGREDIENTS
Beans:
•1 can green beans
•Canola oil
•3/4 cup diced celery
•2 tsp seasoning from HOT CHILI ramen
•1 tsp tamari or soy sauce
•1 tsp sugar
•1 tsp rice vinegar
•2 tsp cornstarch
•1 tbsp water
Topping:
•Ramen noodles and sunflower seeds, sautéed in butter and oil – see Ramen ‘n Romaine Salad – I usually make way more of this than we could ever use on one (or even three) salads, so tossing some over the finished green beans instead of adding nuts at the very beginning, as the original recipe called for is a great new way to use it up.
The secret here is that little hot chili flavor packet from the Ramen noodles. The recipe uses so little that it doesn’t make the beans hot at all, it just adds a terrific punch of flavor to an already pretty darned nice emergency dress-up a can o’ stuff recipe.
Drain the green beans, but reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid from the can and stir it together with the tamari, sugar, rice vinegar, and those 2 tasty teaspoons from the ramen seasoning packet and set it aside.
Stir together the cornstarch and the water and set aside.
Warm the oil in a stir-fry pan over medium-high heat, then add the celery and sauté for two minutes.
Add the seasoned bean liquid, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for three minutes.
Add the green beans and stir to coat with the sauce, then cook until just heated through.
Give the cornstarch/water mixture a little stir and add to the green beans in the pan.
Continue cooking just until the sauce has thickened nicely, then toss with the ramen/sunflower seed mixture and serve.
We had ours with Sweet ‘n Spicy Panko Chicken and quinoa with wild rice.
Nice dinner, and not too, too much of a fuss.