Recipe: Stir-Fried Green Beans

This quick recipe keeps them slightly crisp, playing off the sweetness with tart tomato and the salty, loosely Chinese flavors of soy sauce and five-spice seasoning. These would make a good Thanksgiving vegetable, too – a breather of green crispness between the starch and tryptophan.

Stir-Fried Green Beans
serves 6 as a side

1 pound string beans
2 Roma tomatoes
Light vegetable oil or sesame oil
2 teaspoons five-spice powder
Soy sauce

Clean the beans and snap the ends off. Snap the beans into smaller pieces if you wish. Dice the tomato and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and film the bottom with oil. When the oil is hot, add the green beans, in batches if necessary. Shake the pan as they cook, and add a drizzle of soy sauce. Add the five-spice powder and stir. Keep shaking the pan and adding a little more soy sauce as it evaporates. Cook the beans for about six minutes, or until done to your satisfaction; I like mine still a little crispy.

Add the tomatoes and toss over medium heat until they are warmed through.

(Image: Faith Hopler)