Key West and Green Beans

Turtle in Paradise is a nice surprise.  The cover makes you think it is a contemporary story, but it is set  in 1935.  Turtle is a tough 11 year old girl who is sent to live with her aunt's family in Key West.  Reminded me a little of "Our Gang", due to the group of kids Turtle finds herself in and the shenanigans they get into.  Nice read for 3rd grade and up.

Yummy, spicy green beans!  Even the kids were eating these!

Spicy Sichuan Style Green Beans
(Makes 4 servings; recipe adapted from Easy Party Food, a special-interest publication of Sunset Magazine.)

Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into halves or thirds
2 T soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
1 T rice vinegar (not seasoned)
2 tsp. Splenda, Sugar, or granular Stevia in the Raw (use Splenda or Stevia for South Beach Diet)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (I used 1/4 tsp. and the beans were fairly hot)
1/4 tsp. white pepper (or use black pepper if you don't have white pepper)
1 T vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)
2 T minced garlic
1 T peeled and minced ginger root

Instructions:

Wash green beans if needed, trim the ends, and cut beans into halves or thirds if they are large. Mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweetener of your choice, red pepper flakes, and white pepper. Mince garlic enough to make 2 T minced garlic. Peel ginger root and mince enough to make 2 T minced ginger.

Use a large frying pan with a tight-fitting lid and heat over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the beans and 1/4 cup water; cover and cook on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until the beans are bright green and starting to get tender. (If your beans are thin they will cook more quickly, but larger beans will probably need 5 minutes to get done.) Remove the lid and continue to cook until the water is all evaporated.

Add the oil and minced garlic and ginger and cook about 2 minutes, stirring several times so the garlic and ginger don't burn. Add the soy sauce mixture, let it come to a boil and cook about 2 minutes more, until the sauce thickens and coats the beans and beans are tender-crisp. Serve hot or at room temperature