Chinese Green Bean Salad

This bright green, crunchy salad is bursting with Asian flavors and is so easy to prepare. Look for fresh, plump organic green beans if you can find them. Cook them until they are bright green and still crunchy-tender. At this point you can keep the green beans refrigerated. Toss them with the dressing just before serving or the acid in the dressing will dull the bright green color. Ginger root, one of the main flavors in this salad, is actually a rhizome, an underground stem of a tropical plant, Zingiber officinale, which is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and as a treatment for nausea. You can use ginger in many forms and reap its benefits. Look for other recipes that use crystallized ginger, the dried powder, the fresh form (used here) or even ginger tea.

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh green beans, organic if possible
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger root
1 cup slivered red onion

Dressing:
4 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon cold water
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice or cider vinegar
2 teaspoons dark-roasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons of sugar

Instructions:

1. Trim and cut the green beans into 1-inch lengths. Cook in rapidly boiling water, about 5 minutes or until crunchy-tender.
2. Drain beans, immerse in cold water to stop the cooking until they are cool, then drain well.
3. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk until well blended.
4. Toss the green beans with the ginger root, red onion and dressing. Serve immediately.

Food as Medicine: Green beans are low in calories - just 44 per cup - but rich in vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese.

Comments

[FAYE]

Green Beans is rich in vitamin C, that is great but dont' they get lost in cooking? ( I mean vitamin C?)

[moderator44@drweil.com]

Dr. Weil says: I often steam vegetables and fish - this is a particularly healthy cooking technique because it does the least damage to nutrients and, as a bonus, lends itself to a quick clean-up. I tend to steam tender vegetables and boil less delicate ones (potatoes, beets, corn on the cob). A rule of thumb is when you smell it, it's done. I like my vegetables when they have a deep color to them and are a bit crunchy.

[Annette]

I am from Italy and fresh,organic seasonal vegetables are crucial to our everyday diet. My favorite way to prepare fresh green beans is an old family simple recipe by sauteing the beans in olive oil and chopped fresh garlic and then adding chopped fresh ripe tomatoes and cover and cook until tender. When ready to serve, add some fresh chopped basil or oregano leaf for a wonerful herbal flavor. We will sometimes incorporate this as a sauce or pasta and make it into a meal.

This retains all the vitamins and flavor as we don't boil the green beans first and the green color is maintained. I am currently trying other recipes with Asian influence as well as Indian and Greek/Turkish influence.