Green beans are in full swing here in my garden. This is a huge treat to me as I love them raw, sauteed, and in soup.
I plant Blue Lake Pole Beans, which were my mom’s favorite beans as well. Thankfully these are open-pollinated. I bought organic seed this year and will (hopefully remember to) save my own seed for next year.
We created a teepee out of 8-10 bamboo poles tied together with baler twine (any rope/string will do) and jammed the ends into the garden soil. The whole thing is probably 4-5′ across. I planted several bean seeds at the base of each pole and wrapped the seedling vines around the poles when they began to grow.
That was close to two months ago. Now they are a veritable forest producing delicious tender pods about 6″ long. They really should be picked every other day from now until frost, but sometimes I can’t get out there quite that often. When I came in, I cut the tips and tails off all the pods and separated them into two piles: Mary Poppins (practically perfect in every way) and slightly over-ripe.
The fatter pods I chopped up and tossed in the freezer. If they were going to be in there long, I’d’ve blanched them. As it is, I plan to make some mega-batches of soup for canning in a month or so.
My favorite way to eat fresh (or frozen) beans is by sauteeing them in a bit of bacon grease or olive oil and sesame oil. Jim can’t stand squeaky vegetables, so I get them nicely browned, then add a grated garlic clove and a little salt. Then I add a splash of lime juice, give it all a quick stir, and turn off the heat.
This is about the yummiest thing since May, when I did the same thing repeatedly to asparagus! Yep, you can exchange green beans and asparagus in nearly any recipe.
What’s your favorite way to eat green beans?
