Garlicky Gingery Green Beans

This super simple, healthy and yummy side dish sure has a lot of Gs! This would go great with any main dish and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare from start to finish. Luckily my kids love every vegetable, and I would say that green beans (string beans) are one of their favorites but yet they also love broccoli, Brussels sprouts, snap peas, cauliflower, peas...yep, pretty much every veggie! Sometimes we just steam string beans or eat them raw, but this is a really great way to dress these up and make a good side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs string beans, cleaned and trimmed (can be made with any amount of beans, just adjust seasonings)
• 1-2 tablespoons EVOO
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

• Bring 8 cups/2 quarts of water to a boil in a skillet
• While water is coming to a boil, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water
• When water comes to a boil, add the beans and blanch for 3-4 minutes
• Remove from water and immediately place beans into the ice bath, which will shock them and stop the cooking process, keeping them bright green and crunchy
• Drain beans in a colander
• At this point, you can go to step 2 of the recipe or you can prepare them up to 3 days in advance and keep them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until ready to use
• Warm olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic and saute 1 minutes, but don't brown garlic
• Add ginger to pan and cook another minute
• Add the beans, season with salt and pepper, and saute for a few more minutes. If you like them very well done then continue to cook until desired tenderness

Eat and enjoy!