When I was a child, I would often sit in my parent’s garden and eat raw green beans off the vine. You couldn’t get me to eat them cooked at dinner, but on my own in the garden they were my favorite snack.
To this day, I look forward to freshly picked, local green beans. I don’t have a garden of my own this year, so when I found some at a local food coop today I was so excited. These ones are from a local farm called First Cut Farm and they look fabulous.
I have three different ways I love to cook green beans, other than a simple quick blanch. Fresh vegetables don’t need much to make them shine.
1. Quickly blanch and then lightly oil saute green beans with a small pinch of sea salt. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a generous amount of toasted, ground pumpkin seeds. Alternatively you can make a Pumpkin Seed Dressing and serve with the beans, skipping the saute stage if you desire. There is something about green beans and pumpkin seeds that equal taste heaven.
2. Blanch or steam green beans and serve with a scoop of Vegan Basil and Almond Pesto. I sometimes stir a bit of red wine vinegar into the pesto before adding it to dishes.
3. Saute green beans until al dente and then stir in a nice serving of your favorite tomato sauce. I like to sprinkle a bit of this Vegan Parmesan on top. One day I will get around to writing my own recipe for vegan parmesan, but for now Minimalist Baker has the best I’ve found.
4. You can also make Green Beans with Almonds, but I don’t make this one very much. It’s delicious, but I prefer pumpkin seeds.
I hope you enjoy these recipes.
If you didn’t grow your own green beans this year, try to grow some next year. They often have a fantastic yield, are easy to grow and are so delicious straight off the vine. Next best is to head to your farmers market and grab a bag. I like the slender ones that are still pretty tender. See if you can find some.
If you are really feeling fancy, make some pickled green beans. But, that’s a recipe for another day.
Do you have a favorite green recipe? Let me know in the comments because I really love hearing from you.