Haricots Verts & Radishes with Black Sesame Dressing

1 cup brown basmati rice
1 lb haricots verts, trimmed and halved
1/3 cup roasted black sesame seeds
4 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs maple syrup
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne
8 radishes, thinly sliced

1) In a small saucepan, cook rice according to package directions. Set aside.
2) In a small bowl, blend the soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar and cayenne together to make the dressing.
3) In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add haricots verts and blanch 2 to 3 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Drain in colander.
4) To serve, layer in a bowl, starting with rice, topped with haricots verts, topped with radishes, sprinkled with sesame seeds and drizzled with dressing. Serve warm, but also great as a cold leftover.

Review: I am such a fan of haricots verts and love when Costco has them in stock!! This was a quick, easy dish to make (once I trimmed off all the ends and cut them in half!!). The maple syrup was an unexpected flavor for this type of dish, as I would have been more prepared for sesame oil. However, it didn't taste super sweet, but added a certain intrigue to the flavor. Overall, it was a good dish. The original recipe didn't use rice. That's fine if you want a side dish to a bigger meal, but it needs the rice to make it filling enough to stand on it's own.

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/haricots-verts-and-radishes-with-black-sesame-dressing/