Asian Green Beans and Mushrooms - Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures (2024)

Ingredients

Scale

Green Bean Ingredients:

• 1 – 1b. fresh green beans *
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• Pinch baking soda
• Sprinkle sea salt *

Skillet Ingredients:

• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced *
• 1 Tablespoon tamari *
• 1 teaspoon water
• ¾ cup chickpeas *

Sauce Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons tamari *
• 3 Tablespoons organic maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• ½ teaspoon tahini
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• ¼ teaspoon chili garlic paste (+/-) *
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable broth *
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch (or thickener of choice) *

Optional Toppings/Sides

• Sesame seeds
• Sliced green onions
• Sriracha sauce
• Steamed rice

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1. Place the fresh green beans and smashed garlic cloves into a large skillet, cover with water, heat until boiling, then add a pinch of baking soda. Low boil for 5 minutes, then add the sprinkle of sea salt to the water, and continue a low boil until the green beans have reached the desired tenderness (approximately 3 additional minutes for us or 8 minutes in total). Then remove the green beans and smashed garlic and place them on a plate (discard the water) and set aside until ready to use.
2. In the meantime, place all the Sauce Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk, set aside.
3. In an enamel/ceramic lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, place the sliced mushrooms and one Tablespoon of tamari and a teaspoon of water, sauté for 4 minutes over medium heat to release some of the water from the mushrooms. Then push the mushrooms to the side of the pan and add the sauce, increase the heat and cook the sauce until it thickens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the chickpeas and green beans. Gently stir and toss to coat the mushrooms, green beans and chickpeas. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, serve over rice and garnish with your favorite toppings.

*Tips for Success: Frequently taste test the green beans to ensure they are the desired tenderness. They will not get any more tender once the sauce is added, so it is important that you test them for the desired level of tenderness before adding them to the sauce. The baking soda speeds up the tenderizing of the green beans. Don’t add the sea salt at the same time as the baking soda, they tend to counteract each other. That is why you are boiling the green beans for 5 minutes before seasoning them with the sea salt after the 5-minute mark.

*Green Beans Tenderness: We used fresh green beans. The addition of baking soda enhances the softening of the exterior cellular wall of the green beans to break down faster (soften quicker). We prefer tender-crisp green beans. If using frozen green beans, then you may wish to omit the baking soda. Simmer frozen beans, largely dependent upon how tender you like your green beans. If using canned green beans, then there is no need to boil the green beans, just add them at the same time when you add the chickpeas. Fresh or frozen green beans work best in this recipe.

*Mushrooms: You can use your favorite mushroom as just about any mushroom works well in this dish. We used white button mushrooms. If you do not like mushrooms, you can add about ½ cup of extra chickpeas.

*Cornstarch: You can substitute the cornstarch for arrow root powder. Additionally, once you add the sauce, make sure you cook the sauce for at least 3 minutes to ensure the cornstarch is cooked through (in Step 3). If you don’t cook it enough, you may get this very subtle hint of “cornstarchy” flavor that comes through in the final dish.

*Chickpea Substitutions: Don’t like chickpeas, feel free to substitute with your favorite bean in an equal amount. Edamame would be a fantastic substitute.

*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.

*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.

*Chili Garlic Sauce: We used Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce. This brand does have a small amount of sugar. However, this brand is generally accepted by the WFPB community.

*Add Ins: If you are looking to add soy curls, baked tempeh or tofu, you may wish to 1 ½ times or double the sauce recipe to ensure that there is enough sauce to coat everything. Soy Curls really “drink up” sauce, so we suggest making extra sauce if adding in soy curls.

*Serving: 3 to 4

*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days