Holy cow this dish was one of my better ideas. Beef and Chinese Green Beans popped into my head one recent weeknight when the kids and I were pondering what to make for dinner. We were kind of tired of our usual weeknight meals (Broccoli Beef, Curry Chicken, Fried Rice, some-kinda-noodles). I’d picked up some fresh green beans and decided to try something with that and that’s when my favorite green beans dish popped into my head: Chinese Green Beans.
And then I thought, hey man, sometimes when I order that at our favorite local Chinese restaurant, I have them add braised bean curd and it’s delicious (which, if you’re vegetarian or vegan or just like tofu, you should totally do at home, it really is delicious!).
Since I’ve been trying to eat a little more meat and stir fried beef is one of the few meats I actually think tastes pretty good, I opted to add in beef to the recipe and double the sauce.
Holy moly I am not sorry I tried this little experiment. Not sorry one bit.
The kids and Mr. Meaty and I all LOVED it. So much so that we’ve already had it again since then. AND tried the same thing with broccoli instead of beans and that was yummy, too!
Part of the yumminess may just be locked into that gorgeous iron skillet you see in the photograph. It was my grandmother’s skillet so it has decades of seasoning locked into it and a lot of love-through-cooking, too. It makes me smile every time I use it.
If you’ve been considering switching to cast iron cookware, I highly recommend it. A properly seasoned one is a nontoxic nonstick dream.
Beef and Chinese Green Beans
Serves 4
Ingredients
SAUCE
1/4 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1 tablespoon Mirin or sherry
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger (ground)
1 teaspoon nut butter (I used almond-cashew)
dash of hot sauce
dash of molasses
OTHER
1/4 cup bacon grease or coconut oil for frying, divided
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced red onion (or 1 tablespoon dry minced onion)
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 pound stir fry beef or portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
Method
Mix sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons grease or oil over medium heat in a wok or iron skillet. Add beef, sear on one side and add about half of the sauce. Stir fry until done (about 10 minutes). Remove beef. Add 1 tablespoon oil and stir fry green beans for about 7 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Remove green beans. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and stir fry red onion for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Add garlic, hot sauce and chili flakes and heat an additional minute. Add green beans, beef, and remaining sauce and toss. Serve hot over rice or cauliflower rice.
Beef and Chinese Green Beans
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- sauce:
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon Mirin or sherry
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger (ground)
- 1 teaspoon nut butter (I used almond-cashew)
- dash of hot sauce
- dash of molasses
- other:
- 1/4 cup bacon grease or coconut oil for frying, divided
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup minced red onion (or 1 tablespoon dry minced onion)
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 pound stir fry beef, thinly sliced
- 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
Instructions
- Mix sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons grease or oil over medium heat in a wok or iron skillet.
- Add beef, sear on one side and add about half of the sauce. Stir fry until done (about 10 minutes).
- Remove beef.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil and stir fry green beans for about 7 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Remove green beans.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil and stir fry red onion for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Add garlic, hot sauce and chili flakes and heat an additional minute.
- Add green beans, beef and remaining sauce and toss. Serve hot over rice or cauliflower rice.
