I have a garden for the first time in… pretty much ever. I love the gardening and experimenting with plants I’ve never grown before, like edamame and cabbage and broccoli. The cukes are going crazy – I’ve been eating one a day now for a couple weeks. But beans! I’ve got tons of green beans. I love them, but I need some new ways to prepare them. I’ve been doing basic stir fries and threw a bunch in some jambalaya last night. That was good. I could Google bean recipes, but I thought maybe some of you might have a favorite recipe or know a fun new way to approach them. Anyone have some suggestions? I’m a good cook with a nice kitchen, just a bit short on bean ideas.
I just made 2 quarts of pickled green beans using a recipe from the Ball Blue Book for canning. Do you have a water bath canner? You can do it with a large pot if you don’t.
This recipe makes 4 quarts but you can adjust the size and experiment on a couple pints if you want.
1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup canning or kosher salt, 4 cloves garlic, 4 heads dill, 2 1/2 cups vinegar and 2 1/2 cups water.
Pack cleaned beans in jars length wise. Add one clove garlic and 1 head of dill to each jar and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Boil water, vinegar and salt, pour boiling over beans leaving 1/4 headspace. Put lids and rings on. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Wait 2 weeks, turning jars over occationally. I doubled the garlic, added some spices and a fresh grape leaf for crispness.
If you are going to be a successful gardener next year too, consider learning to can. I taught myself how to make fruit jam last year. This year’s project is learning to pickle, next year I will learn pressure canning.
I’ve only fixed green beans two ways – with bacon and onion, and with stewed tomatoes. Well, three ways, if you count the green been casserole.
I’ve never pickled them – sounds good!
I do a cold green bean salad like so:
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Clean and blanch the beans. Blanching (for those not familiar with the term) means to slightly cook something in salted, boiling water so it’s cooked, but not mushy. I bring a big pot of water to a boil, throw in a tablespoon or so of salt, and add the beans. Take 'em out after 2-3 minutes and plunge into ice water, or else they’ll keep cooking. You want 'em slightly crisp.
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While the beans cool, grate up some fresh ginger. For a pound of beans, maybe a piece of ginger about an inch or inch and a half long.
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Remove beans from ice water, dry 'em some by throwing them onto a clean kitchen towel or paper towels and patting 'em down.
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Put beans in a bowl, sprinkle some seasoned rice wine vinegar and olive oil over them. If you want to get fancy, add a bit of sesame oil. Throw in the grated ginger and some salt. Mix. Add more vinegar, oil, or salt to taste.
You can eat it right away, but it tastes better after a few hours in the fridge.
This recipe was originally in one of Burt Green’s cookbooks. If someone needs better directions, I’ll go look it up and type it out, just let me know.
I absolutely love this version of Sichuan green beans!
Deep fry them.
Use gram flour (besan), fresh ground coriander, chili powder and turmeric as your breading. Wash the beans, coat them with beaten egg (this makes the breading stick) and roll in breading mix and deep fry until the breading is a golden brown. Drain.
Or, sprinkle them with a favorite spice and put a single layer of them on a pan in the oven on a low heat. Leave the oven door slightly open. Remove when they appear dry and crispy. They’re great for snacks.
Toss with olive oil & salt (and chopped garlic if you want) and roast in very hot oven until partially browned on side. You can also do this on the stovetop in a very skillet.
Makes 8 servings, 3/4 cup each
2 pounds green beans, trimmed
2 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided*
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into ribbons
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts **
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add beans, return to a boil, and simmer until crisp-tender, 3 minutes. Drain.
- Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto; cook, stirring, until crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove prosciutto, keep fat in pan.
- Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add the beans, garlic, sage, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are browned in places, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in pine nuts, lemon zest and the prosciutto. Season with lemon juice, the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper.
*If you really want to knock this dish out of the park, use duck fat.
**Slivered almonds would work too
Same thing, but more duck, and Vietnamese style:
Braised Duck With Green Beans, Thai Style
ime: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
4 duck legs or 1 duck, cut into quarters
Salt and pepper
1 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 or 2 small chilies, seeded and minced, or crushed red chili flakes to taste
1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons nam pla or soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
Coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish, optional.
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Remove excess fat from duck or duck legs. Season with salt and pepper, and put in a skillet that will fit it comfortably; turn heat to medium, and cover. Check once you hear sizzling: duck should be simmering in its own fat and exuding liquid. Adjust heat to create a steady simmer.
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Once bottom browns, turn. Eventually liquid will evaporate and duck will cook in fat only; at this point, lower heat and continue to cook duck, turning once in a while, until it becomes tender, about an hour.
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Transfer duck to a plate. Pour off all but a couple of tablespoons of fat. Turn heat to medium high, and add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens, about 5 minutes. Add ginger, garlic and chilies and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add beans and sugar and turn heat to high; cook, stirring occasionally, until beans begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
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Add 2 tablespoons water and nam pla or soy sauce. Put duck on top of bean mixture and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until both beans and duck are very tender, 15 to 30 more minutes, adding a little more water if necessary to keep mixture moist. (You can prepare dish in advance up to this point; cover and set aside until ready to eat, then reheat.) Uncover and stir in lime juice; taste and adjust seasoning, then sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Yield: 4 servings.
Salade Niçoise
From Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, by Julia Child.
Ingredients:
1 large head Boston-lettuce leaves, washed and dried
1 pound green beans, cooked and refreshed (plunked into ice water to stop cooking, then drained)
1-1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 to 2/3 cup basic vinaigrette
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 or 4 ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, halved)
3 or 4 boiling(thin skin) potatoes, sliced, and cooked (I like little nugget potatoes, or Yukon Gold or fingerling potatoes if you can get them)
Two 3-ounce cans chunk tuna, preferably oil-packed
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
1 freshly opened can of flat anchovy fillets *(optional, I suppose 
)
1/3 cup small black Niçoise-type olives (Kalamata are good too)
2 to 3 tablespoons capers *also optional
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Instructions:
Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter or in a shallow bowl. Shortly before serving, toss the beans with the shallots, spoonfuls of vinaigrette, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Baste the tomatoes with a spoonful of vinaigrette. Place the potatoes in the center of the platter and arrange a mound of beans at either end, with tomatoes and small mounds of tuna at strategic intervals. Ring the platter with halves of hard-boiled eggs, sunny side up, and curl an anchovy on top of each. Spoon more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers, and parsley, and serve.
Yield: Serves 6
I love green bean season, as you can well imagine.
It’s important to make sure that your skillet is very
I make green beans almondine a lot (the classic recipe is the closest to what I make, although they don’t mention that the almonds should be slivered). Often I’ll throw in some leftover meat (chicken is pretty good, ham is REALLY good) and leftover brown rice or quinoa so that I have a whole meal in one pan. If I’m trying to really fancy it up I’ll toss in some finely-diced shallots before the green beans. Oh, and if you use ham, you probably don’t need any additional salt.
What if all I have is regular skillet will that be okay?
I usually just make a regular green bean casserole but add a whole bunch of bacon, some garlic and top it with about twice as much fried onions as the recipe says too.
Boil or steam 'em first, while cooking some garlic in olive oil and/or butter.
Drain the beans, then toss them in the skillet with the garlic and oil/butter, a little salt, and as much hot sauce as you like.
Personally, I love green beans that have been steamed for 2-3 minutes, then tossed with butter, salt, and black pepper. C’est magnifique!
I cook fresh green beans with smoked turkey wings or legs for flavor.
I think I meant to write “a very hot skillet” but I’ll leave it to your imagination!
You know you can blanch them and freeze them too, for use in the cold, dark winter.
My default green bean treatment is actually roasting them, in some variation on this recipe.