Sauteed Green Beans

Growing up, my family got into these ruts of have certain meals on certain days of the week.  For a while, we always had pizza on Saturday night, before we girls would head off to youth group.  There was also a time when we regularly had hot dogs with sauteed peppers, onions, and tomatoes on Tuesday nights.  When I was younger, we ate Chef Salad for Sunday supper for a while…and then we started making the German “crullers” with honey and watermelon  (which was a much better option to the Chef Salad, if you ask me!)  There was also a time when we made homemade pretzels on Sundays.  (What was it with Sundays?  I don’t know…)  

And then there was the time when, for some reason, we frequently had baked potatoes, steak, and sauteed green beans.  Since it was a "nice" meal,  I don’t think we had it on a weekly basis, but quite often, or as often as we had fresh green beans on hand, we had this meal.  And boy was it yummy!  

I didn’t know it was such a unique way of fixing green beans until I started making them for guests and for the students at school...and everyone would ask me “What do you do to those green beans?!?!?  They’re amazing!” 

What??   You mean you've never had them like this before?  This is basically the only way to fix green beans! For as long as I can remember, Mom always made them like this!

 Anyway, enough for a trip down memory lane... here’s the recipe for you to try! 

They’re perfect for eating alongside a baked potato and some yummy steak (or chicken)!

 Ingredients: 
Olive Oil
1-2 T minced Garlic
1 lb fresh (or frozen) Green Beans
1 cup Chicken Broth 
1-2 Tablespoons Cornstarch 
1-2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce 
2 Tablespoons Water 

Saute the green beans in olive oil and garlic until they are bright green 

(but they don't have to be done.)

Add the chicken broth (although you may not need all of the broth.) 

I usually just add a little bit at time--just enough for the beans to have something to cook in. 

While beans are cooking, mix together the soy sauce, cornstarch, and water.  Once the beans are tender, add the mixture to the beans, stirring constantly.  The soy sauce mixture will thicken the broth a little bit. 

 Heat and continue to stir until sauce has thickened.   

The beans are now ready to eat!  

Note:  The quantities for the ingredients are mostly just guestimates.  If you want more or less sauce, adjust the broth and cornstarch accordingly (as in, if you don't want the sauce to be very thick, maybe only put in 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch instead of 2, or add more broth, etc.