How I Made Him Fall In Love With Me + Green Bean Fries Recipe | San Diego Photographer

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I tested this theory when I was dating this cute guy that I met in college. I made him a simple dinner in my simple college dorm at UC San Diego: smoked sausages with spaghetti and marinara sauce.  Nothing fancy. He ate it up, asked for seconds, and it made me happy. Five years later, we got married. My evidence may be feeble, but I think there’s truth to that old saying.

For those of you who know me, you know that I’m a foodie. I love to eat. I love to cook. I sometimes pretend that I’m on the show, Chopped with random ingredients to work with, less than an hour to make it taste and look good, and serve a delicious dinner. This probably sounds weird that I’m intrinsically motivated by the Food Network. In any case, if I like you, I will try to feed you, even if it’s just through my Instagram  feed.

I was surprised to realize that I haven’t done a blog post about food yet! (Whaaa?!?!) If I’m not photographing awesome couples for an engagement session, documenting their beautiful wedding, or photographing my two dogs, I’m taking photos of food. The other day, I made green bean fries with sriracha mayo dipping sauce. My husband and I used to go to TGI Friday’s and share green bean fries while watching a football game. Here’s a Throwback camera phone photo!

Coincidentally, we had our first date at TGI Friday’s, right down the hill from UCSD. Aaaaand we come full circle. 🙂

Here’s my take on Green Bean Fries. Some people asked me for the recipe when I posted this Postcard from My Kitchen, so I thought I’d share. (Photo taken with my camera phone.)

Note: I don’t measure when I cook and I have yet to follow a recipe without tweaking it, but here’s what I did:

Green Bean Fries Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh green beans with the ends trimmed

1 raw egg, scrambled with a couple dashes of chili powder

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of plain breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon all-purpose seasoning salt (If you don’t have this, just substitute paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.)

sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Coconut oil for frying (You can also use vegetable oil, but coconut oil really makes the green beans tasty!)

For the dip: 

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise + 1/4 teaspoon Sriracha chili sauce and mix it together

Directions:

In a cast-iron skillet or a medium pot, pour coconut oil and heat it over medium heat. You don’t need that much oil–just enough to cover the green beans. Wash the green beans, drain, and pat dry with a paper towel. Mix the flour, breadcrumbs, and all purpose seasoning salt in a large bowl. Dip a handful of the green beans in the egg mixture and then toss them in the flour mixture until they’re completely coated. Once your oil is hot, start frying the green beans in small batches (don’t let them touch to keep them from sticking together). Cook them about 1-2 minutes until they’re golden brown and delicious. Drain the green bean fries on a plate with a paper towel. Transfer to a plate, sprinkle sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and serve it with the chipotle mayo dipping sauce.

Try it. They’re even good cold.

Let me know how they turn out for you. I invite you to follow me on Instagram to receive Postcards from my Kitchen and other photos from recent photoshoots. If you have any questions or special requests, feel free to leave me a comment.

Cheers!