I was in the mood for something different tonight. I had steak tips for the grill and I whipped up some gluten free savory cheese muffins, all great but not very exciting. How could I step the meal up a bit? I started browsing the Internet for wax bean recipes. I came across a recipe from Martha Stewart of all people, and she roasted the beans and tossed them in Asian flavored sauce. I couldn’t resist. I have never roasted beans nor have I gone with Asian flavors lately, so I decided to give it a try. Of course I made a few of my own tweeks to the recipe but here is the original starting place:
http://www.marthastewart.com/851670/roasted-wax-beans-peanuts-and-cilantro
I will take you step by step through this one, it’s actually a pretty quick side to put together. I started by placing 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil in a bowl. I washed and trimmed my bag o’ beans as well as one carrot. I thought the dish could use a bit more color.
I cut the carrot roughly in the same shape as a bean to keep them as uniform as I could.
After tossing them with the oil, some salt, and a bit of pepper, I put them in a single layer on a lined baking sheet.
They go into a preheated 400 degree oven and I cooked mine 8 minutes, then tossed them again and back in for another 8 minutes.
While they are roasting I made the sauce. Into the same bowl that had my oil to begin with I added 2 teaspoons of tamari (gluten free soy sauce), 1/4 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger root, 3/4 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar. Give it all a stir.
Not much to look at, especially in a black bowl, but I’m hoping the flavor is good!
I used a bit more peanuts than the recipe, 1/3 cup, and I chopped them up.
Here’s the final product. I skipped the cilantro just because I didn’t have it on hand but I think it would add a nice finish to the beans. They were really good. Perfect for a noodle dish too I would say. Enjoy!