Fresh Green Bean Stir-Fry

The Kentucky Family and Consumer Extension Office has created this awesome program called Plate It Up, Kentucky Proud. This program uses vegetables in season here in Kentucky and makes recipes out of them! For this side item, we decided to use a PIUKP recipe and it turned out great.

You can find the recipe and others like it here: https://fcs-hes.ca.uky.edu/recipe/fresh-green-bean-stir-fry

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans

• 1 medium red bell pepper

• 1 medium yellow bell pepper

• 1 small yellow onion

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

• 1 tablespoon flour

• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons canola oil

• 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, diced

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Wash beans. Trim the ends off the green beans and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Place green beans in a medium saucepan and cover with water.

4. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes or until beans are tender crisp.

5. Drain and pour beans into a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain and pat dry.

6. Core peppers and cut into thin strips. Peel onion and slice into thin strips.

7. Spread the sliced almonds on a baking sheet, bake with the rack in the top position at 400 degrees F until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.

8. Mix the flour, black pepper and brown sugar together in a small bowl; stir in soy sauce and lemon juice until smooth. A tablespoon of cold water can be added if sauce is too thick.

9. In a large skillet or wok, add the canola oil and heat to medium high. Add onion and stir-fry for 1 minute.

10. Add garlic and peppers and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

11. Add beans and stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes.

12. Add sauce and toss/cook until sauce evenly coats the beans. Remove to serving plate and sprinkle with the sliced almonds.