Thai Meat with Crispy Beans

This is truly a strange-sounding recipe, but it’s really good no matter what meat you choose to use.

1 lb. pork, chicken or shrimp, cut into bite-sized pieces
3-4 T. olive oil
1/4 c. Equal or Splenda
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (the kind you find at pizza restaurants)

Coat meat with olive oil. Mix sugar substitute with red pepper flakes and coat meat in this mixture. Add a few swirls of olive oil to a nonstick skillet or wok and cook meat over medium until done. Really good with Crispy Beans (below):

Crispy Beans
1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1-2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
Olive oil

After you cook Terrific Thai Meat, wipe out your stir fry pan and add olive oil, soy sauce and minced garlic, stirring to combine. Add trimmed beans and swish them around a little to coat them with the sauce. You can cook them 2 ways – stir fry until crisp-tender over medium high heat, resulting in a very crisp cooked bean that retains more of its vitamins and innate “green bean-iness” OR cook over medium, covered with wax paper and finish over high heat, resulting in a mushier, more flavorful green bean. Either way, they remind me of the green beans at the Chinese buffet – one of my faves!