Green Beans in Black Bean Garlic Sauce over Rice

Its a little late for green beans, but there are still some good ones out there if you look at the market this Sunday. The beans should be a good green color, crisp and not wrinkled, nor too large around the middle. I picked about two-thirds of a pound in my neighbor's wonderful garden and tossed together my variation of a dish I found in a Vegetarian Times:

Green Beans in Black Bean Garlic Sauce over Rice

2/3–1 lb of green beans, washed, ends trimmed and cut into pieces
1/2 lb tofu, drained and pressed with a towel, cubed
2–3 cloves of garlic
2 T sesame oil
1 jar black bean garlic sauce (Wing Wah has it!)
1 tsp sugar
rice for 2–4
sriracha, for the side

Cook rice. I use Trader Joe's frozen rice these days. It microwaves in 3 minutes and produces an excellent batch every time. When I do use these magical little pouches, I actually wait until the end when everything is just about 5 minutes from ready to actually make the rice. For this dish, basmati or brown is tasty.

Steam green beans until crisp tender.

While the beans are steaming, pour 1 T of sesame oil in a nice deep skillet or wok. Heat the oil to medium hot and add tofu. Stir often, lightly browning the sides of the cubes. Peel, press and add the garlic. Stir, stir, stir! When beans are appropriately steamed and nice and bright in color,but not too soft, drain them and add them to the skillet/wok. Stir and fry! Add 2 T of black bean garlic sauce and 1 tsp sugar. Lower heat, stir until all items are coated and the sauce is warmed (about 3–5 minutes).

Serve over rice with about 1 T of sriracha on the side.

Enjoy!

Here is a link to the original recipe that I was inspired by:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10661?section=

By varying what you have in the skillet, this recipe can be adapted to whatever is in season!