GREEN BEANS BRAISED WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS

GREEN BEANS BRAISED WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS
1/2 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, about 10-11 small mushrooms
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Put the mushrooms in a medium bowl; add 1 cup boiling water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and reserve the liquid. When the mushrooms have cooled, remove the tough stems and dice the caps. Strain the liquid through a paper towel lined strainer. Add the soy sauce and Splenda to the liquid and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the ginger and cook 20-30 seconds. Add the beans, mushrooms and drained liquid. Stir to combine then cover and reduced the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 15-20 minutes. Turn the heat up to high very briefly to evaporate the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes 4-6 servings
Do not freeze

Per 1/4 Recipe: 55 Calories; 1g Fat; 2g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs
Per 1/6 Recipe: 37 Calories; 1g Fat; 2g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen's "Perfect Vegetables" book. Frankly, I didn't care for it much. The mushrooms seemed to absorb most of the salt and the beans got very little in the way of flavor. I added the part in the recipe about letting the liquid evaporate. Otherwise most of the flavor would have ended up in the bottom of the pot and not on the beans. I doubt if I'll make these again. They didn't have the sort of flavor that I like. The main reason that I tried the recipe in the first place was to use up some dried shiitake mushrooms that I had in the pantry.

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