Green Beans with Sesame-Ginger Dressing

As a girl, my absolute favorite vegetable was green beans. My aunt cooked them one way, long and slow with salt, pepper, a little onion and a good dollop of bacon grease. By the time they were served they were soft, salty, bits of wonder.

Served carefully with a slotted spoon, to keep the bean wet from touching any other individually portioned food on my plate, green beans were one vegetable I would eat reliably and since my aunt believed in eating your vegetables, they were served often.

Others at our family table came to complain about the frequency over the years but my aunt still made them for me …southern country style.

Since then my tastes have matured … a bit. Oh, I still love soft, salty green beans, cooked for hours with onion and ham, as do others at my table, but now I serve them rarely. Instead I have discovered that green beans are also delicious, as well as quick and easy, when cooked just until bright green and crisp tender.

I found this recipe in my kitchen files. It has been clipped from a newspaper. It has yellowed slightly but no longer carries the name of the publication or the date. Like several recipes I have tried lately, it uses ginger in an oriental inspired dressing over crisp tender green beans. It has a light fresh taste that is great with summer menus.

Green Beans with Sesame-Ginger Dressing

1 pound green beans
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Trim and cut green beans as desired. (I cut mine into two inch pieces. If they are small they would be pretty whole.)

Arrange beans in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and cook beans until bright green and crisp tender (approximately 15 minutes.) Drain and transfer to a serving bowl.

In a small bowl combine the toasted sesame seeds, sugar, mirin and grated fresh ginger.

Toss beans with sesame mixture and serve.

4 servings.