Are you ready for a funny story??! Ok, so my daughter (who is now 30) used to work at Starbucks in her late teens/early 20’s and while at work, she and her co-workers were talking about food but more specifically…..vegetables. My daughter goes on to tell them that she doesn’t like vegetables. While in conversation, she speaks out again and says, “Well, I do like the way my mom makes her green beans.” Her co-workers asked how I prepared them and my daughter says, “She serenades them in soy sauce.” A few of them chuckled and said, “She serenades them…..?????” More people chiming in with, “Are you sure she ‘serenades them’??” And being the confident girl that she is, says, “Yes! Serenades them!” There was now more of a laughter at this time vs. a chuckle! My poor Nicolle is staring at them with a ‘What?’ kind of face! One of her co-workers speaks out and says, “So she sings to her green beans??!!” And of course that is when my daughter realizes she said the wrong word! We all had a great laugh with that one …..and there were many little “Nicolle-isms” but that one was pretty much at the top because she was very adamant that I serenaded those little stringy veggies!
While Nicolle thought that I “serenaded” (marinated) green beans, I didn’t. I did use the soy sauce to stir fry them and yes, they hung out in the wok for a bit to soak in all those juices & wilt down the green beans a bit but in terms of what marinating really is, no ….they aren’t presoaked for any amount of time.
As I move on to recreate the recipe for my style of eating now, I use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar. They were LOVED by my younger daughter Kylie, who also loved my “serenaded green beans” that Nicolle speaks of. In fact, I had a container of left overs to use for lunch or add to another dinner but my daughter ate them up like popcorn while watching TV the next day! I hadn’t made green beans in probably a couple of years but now these will be in rotation for sure AND they will be on the menu for when my Nicolle and grand daughter, Mazzy come into town next month! (YAY!)
If you like green beans, or even if you don’t because clearly you don’t need to like the vegetable to like this recipe – go make this! It comes together quickly & pairs well with any protein!
- 12 oz pkg green beans
- 2 tbsp light flavored olive oil
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Sprinkle of sesame seeds
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium flame.
- Add green beans, tossing to coat. Cover with a splatter guard (or lid that's slightly ajar). Toss the green beans every few minutes for about 10 minutes.
- Add coconut aminos, coconut sugar and garlic ....stir to incorporate and cover for another 10 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Plate or put into serving dish and top with green onions and/or sesame seeds.
My favorite was peas! Mom always slathered them in butter…yum!
I was never a huge fan of peas as a kid BUT if my mom had slathered them in butter, I might have been! Haha!
Sounds yummy! My favorite vegetable growing up was broccoli. But of course it was drenched in ranch or cheese. Now I just put salt, pepper, and hot sauce.
OH yes! I was a big fan of melted cheese on my broccoli too! And I’m with you ….I now keep it more simply seasoned
My favorite childhood veggie was creamed corn. I actually thought my grandma made it.
That’s so cute! My mom served us creamed corn a lot and I loved it too! In fact, a lot of our veggies came from a can – haha!