Garlic Wasabi and Sage Green Beans

Whenever I have wasabi paste on my sushi it burns right through my nose, makes my eyes water, and I think steam may even come out of my ears.

So what do I do after this happens?

Well of course I eat another piece of sushi slathered with wasabi paste and it happens all over again.

If you like horseradish on top of prime rib you probably know the feeling in your nose. 

I stumbled across a package of fine French green beans in the produce department recently and the first thing that came to mind was sautéing them with garlic and ground sage.

Wasabi powder turned out to be the perfect complement to give just a little heat to the dish (not to the nose burning level), and also add a delicious earthy flavor similar to the sage.

Just a bit of butter added a hint of sweet brown butter taste and tied the wasabi and sage flavors together nicely.

Since fresh French green beans aren’t always available in the store, regular green beans should work nicely with this recipe too.  They would just need to be sautéed a bit longer.

Thank you very much for stopping by and have a nice rest of the weekend!

Let’s check out the ingredients.

Fresh French green beans, garlic, ground sage, wasabi powder, garlic powder, butter, sea salt (or regular salt), and olive oil.

Here’s how to make it:

Snap or cut the stem ends off of the green beans and rinse them off.

Add them to a medium size bowl.

Add the olive oil (reserving about 2 teaspoons of olive oil for the skillet),

garlic powder,

salt,

ground sage,

and wasabi powder.

Toss the green beans until coated.  Set aside.

Slice the garlic into pieces about ¼ of an inch thick and set aside for a moment.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat.

Add the green beans to the skillet,

and about 2 teaspoons more olive oil.

Add the butter and garlic and stir (if using regular green beans let them sauté in the pan for about 6 minutes before adding the butter and garlic).

Continue stirring.

Keep stirring until the garlic turns a light brown or golden color (about 6 minutes) which is about the time when the green beans should be done.

If the garlic is cooking too fast and starting to turn a dark brown color, turn the heat down just a bit.

Some of the thinner green beans should be a little soft while others should be a bit crisp.

Try a quick sample and salt to taste.  Serve hot right out of the skillet as a side dish.  Enjoy!