Recipe Thursday!(Sesame Green Beans)

This weekend the at Union Square green market I picked up the best looking green beans. There are 101 ways to prepare green beans, all just as tasty as the next but this is one of my absolute favourites! While you could make this with frozen or fresh green beans, I always go with fresh. It may take an extra 20 minutes to snap them, but I think the boost of flavour fresh green beans have are worth the extra effort!

Ingredients:
1- large produce bag full of green beans(or 3- 10 ounce bags if you are using frozen)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp garlic salt
salt and black pepper

Directions:
-Snap ends off beans and then break in half
-Over medium/high(depending on your cook top) heat, heat olive oil and soy sauce in large sautee pan and add beans
-add garlic salt, salt and pepper and continually stir
-Sautee until beans begin to turn a brighter green(should be about 10 minutes)
-Once beans begin to change to brighter green add water 
-Once about half the water has cooked out add sesame seeds and some additional salt and pepper
-Turn heat down to low and continue to cook beans until all the water has cooked out
-Once all the water has cooked out, the beans will be a darker green colour, and the sesame seeds will begin to brown- they are ready to go!

These beans are so yummy and a welcome change to the regular stove preparation. They are a great accompaniment to any meat and veggie dinner! I have served them with pork chops, baked chicken, and all sorts of fish. This dish is flavourful but pairs well with almost any meat and starch!The total prep and cook time is about 25-40 minutes, so its something easy to throw on the stove while meat is cooking! Also for any pet owners out there, my dog just about loses it any time I sit down to snap beans. He absolutely loves uncooked beans- he would eat them until he popped! So green beans are a healthy and cheap dog treat to have on hand!