Garlic Green Bean Chicken and Kaytee's Cilantro Rice Pilaf

picture from salad-in-a-jar.com

I always forget to take my own pictures! This one isn't really what mine looked like, but it gives you an idea. Now on to the goods! I LOVE the Garlic Green Bean Chicken dish at Marco Polo Global Restaurant. I've only been there twice and I've had this both times. It is SO good. I've been wanting to try and recreate it and I think this is pretty darn close. Since I've only made it once, this recipe is not quite an exact science. Times are estimates of how I think things went. So, here goes:

Ingredients
3 TBS less-sodium soy sauce
3 TBS honey
2 TBS unsalted butter
4 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion
1 large carrot, cut into 3 inch pieces and thinly sliced
1 ½ lbs green beans, trimmed
salt
4-5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken, thinly sliced, cooked (keep warm)
toasted sliced almonds

How to make it

Combine soy sauce, honey and 3 TBS water in a small dish and set near the stove. In a large pan, heat the butter with the olive oil over med-high heat. When the butter is melted, add carrots, onion and ½ tsp salt and toss with tongs to coat well. Cook about 3 or 4 minutes. Add green beans and toss to coat. Cook, turning the beans occasionally, until tender crisp (maybe 5 – 7 minutes). (The butter in the pan will have turned dark brown.) Reduce heat to low, add the garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 – 2 minutes . Add cooked chicken and the soy mixture (you’ll need to scrape the honey in the pan). Cook, stirring until the liquid reduces to a glazy consistency that coats the beans. Immediately transfer to a serving dish, scraping the pan with a spatula to get all the garlicky sauce. Top with toasted almonds. Let sit for a few minutes and serve warm over rice. (Don’t forget to spoon extra sauce on your plate!)

Kaytee's Cilantro Rice Pilaf (SO GOOD!!)

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 or 4 TBS onion, chopped
1 TBS grated ginger
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 TBS chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. (Don’t peek.) Add cilantro, fluff with a fork, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Serves 5