Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Pork

Most mornings before going to work, I take out meat from the freezer so that by the time I get home, it's already defrosted. I do this because I DESPISE using the microwave to defrost meat. I have nothing against using the microwave, it's just a personal preference of mine. So today I took out ground pork. I had NO CLUE what I was going to make with it, but I knew I was going to use it.

While at work, I came across this Szechuan recipe that looked easy to make, and I already had most of the ingredients on hand anyways. Plus, Chinese food is my FAVORITE!!

Below is the picture from the recipe, and I also took a picture of what I made:

My dish

Recipe

Instead of using green beans, I used broccoli.I also doubled the recipe because it didn't seem like there would have been enough for the family. It was SOOOO good! I will definitely be making this again :) Here's the recipe if you're interested in making it.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound lean ground pork

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1 teaspoon peanut oil

2 1/2 cups (1-inch) green beans

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 cups hot cooked white rice

Preparation:

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork mixture, beans, and garlic; cook 3 minutes or until pork loses its pink color, stirring to crumble.

Combine hoisin and next 3 ingredients (through soy sauce) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add hoisin mixture to pan. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Serve over rice.

I changed up the recipe a little bit: 

I  substituted white pepper with black pepper.

I substituted peanut oil with vegetable oil.

And of course I used broccoli instead of the green beans, but you can add anything else you want to it. If you're going to use the green beans, I don't suggest trying to cook them with the meat, they may not fully cook. What I did was cook the broccoli on its own first, and then I added it at the end. If you have any tips or tweaks to this recipe, please share! ENJOY :)