With all the heavy comfort food we’ve been eating this winter, it seems like a good time for a veggie recipe. This one has quite a bit of kick to it!

For Chinese New Year a few weeks ago, I posted a recipe for Almond Cookies like the ones we used to get at our favorite Chinese restaurant by our kids’ high school. Most of the time when we ate there, I would get a dish of spicy, garlicky green beans with either white or fried rice for dinner. It was my favorite Chinese meal. While I have tried to find that particular dish at other Chinese places and have tried to replicate it at home, I have been unsuccessful so far. But I have finally found a replacement dish that we can make at home! It is a simple & quick, yet spicy & full of flavor sauce that is great over steamed green beans, but can also be used over other vegetables, like broccoli or over lightly seasoned, cooked chicken. It will definitely spice up whatever it is served with!

Ginger-Almond Sauced Green Beans

Ginger-Almond Sauced Green Beans (adapted from realsimple.com) Total Time Required: 5 minutes, Yields: 1 cup of sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• steamed green beans or broccoli or cooked chicken for serving

Instructions:

Whisk together the almond butter, water, lemon juice, chili-garlic sauce, ginger, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

Whisk the sauce ingredients together.

Serve the sauce over cooked vegetables or cooked, plain chicken.

Add the sauce to cooked veggies or chicken.

The sauce keeps well and can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. Add additional water to the stored sauce if it needs to be thinned out more.

Just a little of this sauce goes a long way!

We’re kicking our veggies up a notch!  ~Linda

Ginger-Almond Sauced Green Beans (adapted from realsimple.com) Total Time Required: 5 minutes, Yields: 1 cup of sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• steamed green beans or broccoli or cooked chicken for serving

Instructions:

Whisk together the almond butter, water, lemon juice, chili-garlic sauce, ginger, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Serve over cooked vegetables or cooked, plain chicken. The sauce keeps well and can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. Add additional water to the stored sauce if it needs to be thinned out more.