Thursday, June 7, 2012

Spicy Green Beans with Homemade Soy-Free Teriyaki Sauce

My dear friend Moe loves spicy green beans.  She orders them every time we go to P.F. Chang’s.  So I made this recipe with my sweet friend in mind.  One thing I wanted to do, however, was make a soy free and low(er) sodium version.  This calls for coconut aminos, one of my favorite ingredients.  Unfortunately, coconut aminos isn’t SCD legal, but it’s still a great sub for soy-free folks.  This is a super fun side dish too for your Asian cuisine or otherwise.  Teriyaki sauce is also super yummy with eggplant, another dish Moe loves!   
I’ve been excited to share this dish with you.  
Enjoy.   
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans (preferably organic if you can find them)
-1/3 cup coconut aminos
-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
-1 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
-1/4 teaspoon garlic granules (or 1/2 garlic clove, minced, watch for spice factor if making for kids) 
-2 tablespoons honey
-1 teaspoon sesame seeds
-Thickener of choice (I use Kuzu to thicken, which I find at my local Coop). 

How To:
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
1.  Wash and trim green beans and steam for a few minutes.  This takes some of the toughness out of the green bean.  Don’t over steam, you still want a crunchy bean.  No need to soak these in cold water after steaming, simply remove steamer basket from pot and rest on the counter. 
2.  In a small bowl, whisk together the above sauce ingredients until incorporated.
3.  Remove 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid and reserve for later. 
4.  Transfer steamed beans to glass baking dish and toss with mixture.
5.  Transfer to oven and roast for 12-15 minutes.
6.  Thicken sauce* (optional) 
7.  To make the green beans spicy, add freshly grated ginger and garlic to the top of the green beans (for adults only).  As is, the sauce is just slightly spicy.  My 6 year old doesn’t detect it, but my 3 year old says it’s spicy.  So, if you’re serving this to young children, add less garlic and ginger to the original mixture and obviously don’t garnish with fresh garlic and ginger.  
Serves 4 -5  

Notes
*To thicken add 1 1/2 tablespoons thickener of choice to the cool reserved liquid and dissolve.  Remove green beans from baking dish.  Add the thickened cool liquid to the warm sauce and whisk.  As mentioned above, I use Kuzu.  Top green beans with thickened sauce.  If the sauce isn’t thickening up, simply add more thickener to a little water (or more coconut aminos) and continue to add into the warm sauce.  Thickening is optional, but yields a nice presentation. 
*For more about how to thicken sauces see here.  
*Vegans use agave, coconut sugar, stevia or other sweetener of choice in place of honey. 

Shared on:Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania, My Meatless Mondays, Mealtime Monday,Made From Scratch Monday, Fat Tuesday,Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesday Whole Food Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesdays, Tastetastic Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Frugal Food ThursdayWellness Weekend, Fresh Bites Friday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday, Potluck Party Friday, Allergy-Friendly Fridays, Sweet Saturday, 
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Labels: sides, soy free, vegetarian.

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