Today's Recipe From Dr. Weil: Chinese Green Bean Salad

Wednesday January 21, 2015 A delicious recipe to help you eat and feel healthy — direct to you from Dr. Weil's Optimum Health Plan. Chinese Green Bean Salad 4 ServingsThis bright green, crunchy salad is bursting with Asian flavors and is so easy to prepare. Look for fresh, plump organic green beans if you can find them. Cook them until they are bright green and still crunchy-tender. At this point you can keep the green beans refrigerated. Toss them with the dressing just before serving or the acid in the dressing will dull the bright green color. Ginger root, one of the main flavors in this salad, is actually a rhizome, an underground stem of a tropical plant, Zingiber officinale, which is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and as a treatment for nausea. You can use ginger in many forms and reap its benefits. Look for other recipes that use crystallized ginger, the dried powder, the fresh form (used here) or even ginger tea. Ingredients: 1 pound fresh green beans, organic if possible 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger root 1 cup slivered red onion Dressing: 4 teaspoons dry mustard powder 1 tablespoon cold water 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce 3 tablespoons rice or cider vinegar 2 teaspoons dark-roasted sesame oil Instructions: 1. Trim and cut the green beans into 1-inch lengths. Cook in rapidly boiling water, about 5 minutes or until crunchy-tender. 2. Drain beans, immerse in cold water to stop the cooking until they are cool, then drain well. 3. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk until well blended. 4. Toss the green beans with the ginger root, red onion and dressing. Serve immediately. Nutritional Information: Per serving: 67.4 calories 2.4 g total fat (0.4 g sat) 0.0 mg cholesterol 10.9 g carbohydrate 2.7 g protein 4.2 g fiber - Recipe reprinted with permission of DrWeil.com. Tomorrow's Recipe: Pink Lentil Curry Lentils are a staple ingredient in Indian cooking, and combine well with many different seasonings. You may be most familiar with brown or green lentils, but there are lentils out there in black, yellow, red and pink. Look for these more exotic varieties in Indian and specialty food stores.