Easy Microwave Szechuan Green Beans

deborahk's Note:

Fabulous easy version of the classic, low fat, low sodium version. This is from Barbara Kafka's cookbook, "Microwave Gourmet," with only very minor changes. If you don't own this book, I recommend it highly! My copy is about 20 years old, and was one of the first cookbooks I bought as a grown-up.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lb green beans , tipped and tailed
• 6 garlic cloves , smashed and peeled
• 2 scallions , trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Finely chop garlic, ginger and scallions together. Place in 14” x 11” x 2” dish, cover with vegetable oil. Cook on high for 3 minutes.
2. Removed dish from microwave oven, stir in soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.
3. Add green beans, stirring to distribute sauce.
4. Cook, uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring 3-4 times during cooking.
5. Serve hot or cold. Can be made ahead and reheated for serving.

Reviews

[Tea Girl]

Wow, this are really good! I did it with regular soy sauce, Turkish pepper flakes and fresh ginger. My DH was asking for more them before he wanted more meat, which almost never happens, so he must have thought they were very good. It reminded me of a dish I used to have at my favourite Chinese place where I grew up before they retired. Thanks for sharing. :)

[KitchenCoquette]

We really liked this, even the picky doesn't usually like vegetables teenage girl liked them. I didn't use low sodium soy sauce, I used Flying Horse Soyabean sauce, and used a skillet, but it turned out great. I had wanted to clear out the frozen green beans from the freezer, now I want to get more of them.