If you've been following my other blog, you know that I ran out of onions last week. I know, I know. You just don't run out of onions. Milk, maybe. Eggs, maybe. But onions, never.
Well I did, and it sparked some creativity in my kitchen. Almost every savory dish I make starts with a sliced or diced onion.
This dish was a product of my poor organizational skills. (So was the Garlicky Vegetarian Stew over on my other blog.) And it was quite a delicious accident!
Now to move onto my "Eat. Live. Be." theme. This week on "Eat. Live. Be," we're giving concrete examples of how we are tackling our healthy living goals. For me, it's clearly not by staying organized and making lists. It's mostly about making a point of enjoying a wide variety of simple healthy foods. This week, it was string beans and garlic. Next week, it'll be something else easy and healthy. I find that if I keep it simple, eating healthy really isn't very hard. And it's lots of fun!
Simple Garlicky String Beans
This recipe uses just four ingredients. As with all really simple recipes, the quality of your ingredients matters. Use a good quality sherry (not a cooking wine, please). I use Tio Pepe extra dry light sherry. Don't skimp on the olive oil, either.
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound French beans
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup good dry sherry
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. (I used my good old faithful cast iron skillet. Can't live without it.)
Add the garlic and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, for about 2 minutes, just till fragrant. Be sure not to burn it.
Add the string beans and cook, stirring from time to time, for about 5 minutes, until the beans are warm and nicely coated with the oil and garlic bits.
Add the soy sauce and wine and cook, stirring from time to time, for another 5-10 minutes or so. The beans should be heated through but still nice and green. (Try one if you're not sure.)
I think I could survive without onion, as long as I had garlic.
ReplyDeleteThese look awesome! I love onions and garlic....but garlic is definitely more essential :)
ReplyDeleteLove these. In fact, now I know what I'll serve with my pork tenderloin tonight.
ReplyDeleteCannot wait for green bean season! Those beans look fantastic - I'm a big fan of this cooking method for them! (I have to try the sherry...)
ReplyDeleteYou are so right... keeping things simple makes it easier to make those healthy changes! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteLove this simple recipe!! It is a nice change from just green beans. My family would love this. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSimple is most always the best especially when you are using fresh veggies. I love this dish and I grew up on green beans so I cant; wait to give this a try!
ReplyDeleteI love how you improvised with this dish! It looks like it came out perfectly with the garlic. Mixing it up with new veggies definitely helps keep me on track also!
ReplyDeleteThis looks fabulous, but what I missed the first time I read the recipe was that you use a good quality kosher sherry. I have always used the cooking kind--I didn't even know you could get a fine quality kosher sherry--thanks for the heads up! I have to find this sherry now.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this could be made ahead and reheated?
Another question: I used to have a good cast iron skillet from back in the day when they still came without preseasoning. I have no idea what happened to it (hazards of moving . . .) Do you know what the deal is with preseasoned cast iron and kashrut? I heard that you can't buy preseasoned because you don't know what oils were used. Do you know where you can still get unseasoned cast iron?
The string beans are perfect as you cooked them. I like to keep them quite simple as they taste great on their own. Love the improvised, turned out delicious.
ReplyDeleteI love these garlicky string beans! Delicious! I hate running out of onions too - I use them in almost everything!
ReplyDeleteYUM!!! I like green beans, and this sounds like a great way to "dress" them up!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for joining my Weekend Bloggy Reading party. :)