Sauteed green beans with shallots and pine nuts makes for the perfect side dish.

When we were in South Korea for 10 days, aside from the tour to the DMZ D was most looking forward to the Starcraft Tournament in Seoul. Back before our blogging and travel planning days started, D was a part-time computer gamer – limited to the computer game Starcraft II. When I would be cooking away in the kitchen and making a mess D would be conquering and defeating alien races and territories.

To each their own I guess.

Back in DC though, D was almost alone in his hobby – but in South Korea the computer gaming industry is so intense – especially for Starcraft II that they have their own TV channel dedicated to the games themselves. Luckily for D our timing in Seoul happened to overlap with the semi finals of a major tournament so at the gaming studio we actually got to see the two main players in their little boxes viciously playing away.

Each country seems to have their own top gaming industry. In Japan we spotted tons of arcades where the mostly male clientele would get comfortable, with pack of cigarettes and wallet on the table, usually a smoke in hand, and some multi-dextorous rapid speed mortal combat game movements. They also have their own form of gambling, known as Pachinko. In the US the major focus seems to be on poker, particularly among young males playing 5 card draw. I personally never played myself but all my guy friends and male relatives would go crazy for it. With all the hands memorized they could go back and forth with various strategies and techniques.

And so for all you gamers out there, stay away from the trashy, junk food that usually goes along with these addictive habits, and make yourself a quick vegan side dish instead.

Feel free to eat the whole bowl of these vegan sauteed green beans and go back for more as this recipe is healthy, nutritious and delicious.

Swap out the fried potato chips for kale chips and popcorn for oven roasted cauliflower.

When spending hours beyond hours on the computer playing various games at least spare your body the harm of fast food and make yourself a quick, healthy meal instead.

For all the non-gamers out there this still applies — eat healthy anyway and enjoy these vegan sauteed green beans!