Charred Greens with Ginger and Garlic

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This dish is inspired by something I eat regularly when we order Chinese food: Wok charred greens. We don't own a wok, however, so I used our trusty old cast iron skillet, which also gets extremely hot, and was therefore effective enough to pull this tasty side dish together quickly. You can make this dish with a variety of greens, but it tasted great with this combination of string beans and asparagus. You can prep it ahead so it will only take a couple of minutes to finish up before serving, and you can serve it hot or room temperature, if you are eating outside in summer, say. It goes perfectly with any protein, really, from white fish or salmon to shrimp, chicken, pork or beef and is one of those savory crowd-pleasing dishes which no one can get enough of, so double the recipe if you are feeding more than 4 people. Here's how to make it:

Ingredients:
1 large package of trimmed green beans, cut into 2" strips
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 2" pieces (discard the too-chewy very bottom ends, though)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil (such as grapeseed, peanut, canola or even olive oil, depending on what you have / your taste)

To prepare:
Steam or blanche the vegetable for about 4 minutes, or until bendy but still quite crunchy. 
Heat oil in skillet and add vegetables with garlic and ginger. Season with salt and pepper and stir over high heat for another 4 minutes or so, until greens get a nice charr (but do not burn!)
Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds or chopped fresh scallions, if you wish, and serve with your choice of protein and  / or grains.
Enjoy!