Chinese Chicken With Green Beans

My daughter decided we need to eat our way around the world this week. We started with a really good summery pizza picnic in the park with friends, and then moved on to Chinese-inspired chicken with green beans today. This was only her second taste ever of "real" Chinese food. (I say "real" but I've never been to Asia, and although I was Chinatown regular before becoming a mom and dealing with food allergies on a daily basis, I don't have much else to base this on.) As far as American Chinese take-out though, this tasted pretty close to the real thing, to me. My only regret was that I forgot to buy sticky rice. (We used standing white, long grain rice for this dish which was fine, but not quite the same as from a restaurant.) Also, I didn't put all the sauce in the dish which I then regretted. Definite cook all the sauce! For a 20-minute weeknight dinner, this was packed with flavor, really easy to pull together with a child, and quite delicious. How do you say enjoy in Chinese? Anyone?

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 3 to 4 butterflied boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick strips 
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 4 cups of green beans (or broccoli if you prefer)
• Rice (you can use brown rice, white rice, sticky rice, jasmine--whatever you like best. Rice noodles also work well and cook in under 5 minutes.)

For the sauce: 

• 1 cup of low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 small or 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root (you can use dried ginger if you don't have fresh ginger)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce (Tamari, if you're making this gluten free)
• 2 tablespoons of corn starch
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil (you can do without this, if you have a sesame allergy. Still delicious!)
• Hot pepper flakes (optional: I love it with a kick but Lina really can't handle spice so we skipped it today).

To prepare:
Steam or blanche your beans or broccoli, and cook rice according to package directions, in two separate pots.
Meanwhile, mix you sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Heat the vegetable oil in a very hot wok or large skillet. Add sliced chicken, season well, and stir for about 4  minutes until almost cooked through.
Add sauce and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about 3 more minutes, tossing or stirring well. 
Add the cooked beans or broccoli at the last minute.
Mix, and serve immediately over rice.