People often ask me why I mow my lawn with a push-mower. One of the reasons I offer (aside from the fact that it’s not annoying like the sound and smell of a gas-mower), is that I work up a serious appetite using the thing — and I often come up with some fun meal ideas. Today was no exception. I had a big bag of green beans that needed to be used, and my preferred method for cooking those is always in a wok with peanut oil and a heavy dose of minced garlic. What I was less certain about was what was going to accompany them.
After pushing the mower to and fro for almost an hour, brown rice sounded pretty fantastic. I recently spied a shoyu-vinegar sauce in Bryant Terry’s Vegetable Kingdom, so I decided to try that as a drizzle over the top. The sauce is simple, simple: equal parts shoyu and rice wine vinegar with a dash of sesame oil, some hot chili flakes and brown sugar to taste.
It’s crazy how something with so few ingredients can add so much punch to steamed rice and stir-fried beans. I mean wowza! It’s the kind of sauce that one could develop a serious craving for in no time flat. And I did, in fact, have two heaping helpings of this meal, largely because the sauce just sparks some kind of elation. I was eating my meal alone, but despite experiencing this taste sensation solo, I wanted to shout out: “Damn, this is good.” So, I did because why not?
Usually when I cook, I’ll incorporate leftovers from a previous meal. Today, I tossed in a bit of the next-level tofu that I’d made a few days back. I didn’t have enough to really impact the flavor of the beans, and honestly that’s probably for the best given the spicy jerk profile. But I did feel virtuous for using up the last scrap of that dish without it going to waste.
Green beans and brown rice with a shoyu-vinegar sauce is a solid, low-cost, healthy meal that makes a great main or a satisfying side. As I write, I’m still thinking about ways that I’ll use the remainder tomorrow. The first thing that comes to mind is to serve it with some beautiful portobello mushrooms pan fried alongside a cornmeal hush puppy or two.
The Civilized Lunch Project 