Green Living
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I have gotten a plastic grocery bag FULL of green beans every week for the past 3 weeks in our CSA. I need recipes, and if anyone knows off hand, instructions for freezing.
I've hardly used any. We've been trying to put them in salads, top our casseroles with them, etc but it hasn't even made a dent.
Re: I need green bean help
I've never frozen them, but the way i'd do it is to blanch them (boil long enough for the colour to brighten, then immerse in icewater), spread them out on a cookie sheet and freeze them, then store in freezer bags.
The way i generally cook them is to saute them with garlic in a mixture of olive oil and butter.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
I made a stir fry with some chicken and green beans (I just used a brown sauce).
Also someone had a great recipe for beans and potatoes...maybe GK8aters(sp?) I saw it yesterday while searching for beet recipes.
My mom makes her's with bacon, garlic and almonds.
I bought some at the farmers market this weekend to make these: Beer Battered Green Beans (below)
http://noblepig.com/2010/07/14/beerbattered-green-beans-with-tarragon-aioli.aspx
Learning to start all over again... Blog
I usually do green beans in a pan, with a little bit of water and some butter and minced onion and salt. I basically pan fry/steam the green beans until they are just barely cooked (we like them on the fresh/raw side).
And then I usually do some orzo or scalloped potatoes as well
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We use fresh greenbeans in risotto.
One of our favorite easy meals is to crisp up some prosciutto in some olive oil, then scoop it out, and saute some garlic and a shallot in the oil. Then we toss in whatever veggies we want that have been blanched (or even raw) and cook. Then we add the prosciutto back in, toss with pasta, and sprinkle with freshly grated parm.
I also like them boiled until slightly tender in a pot with a bunch of bacon that's been cut up into pieces.
We're trying a Thai dish this week because our farmers market had fresh green beans and a local Thai place with tons of different sauces so we're doing our own version of Prik king Prince with beef, green beans, Thai basil, and one of their sauces.
I'm jealous! I have six green bean plants and I'll be lucky to get one meal out of them.
I have frozen green beans, blanching them first, and while they still look nice, I don't think they are the same as fresh. Well now that I write it, that seems obvious! I am not going to freeze any again because I didn't like them frozen, but I'm really picky.
One of my favorite meals ever -- and I could (and often do) eat this several times a week -- is to blanch cleaned green beans and then sautee in olive oil with really good lemon pepper and top with feta. I know, it sounds strange but its really really good. I have added yellow squash and/or tomatoes to this, and have also added shrimp.
Edited to add -- Oh!! If I needed to use a bunch and couldn't eat them all right away, I would pickle and can them! I LOVE spicy pickled beans, and they are really good in martinis and bloody marys!I do have a recipe that uses beans--a tuna nicoise casserole thing--but Branny is the one who had beans and potatoes recently:
http://brannyboilsover.com/2010/07/15/green-beans-with-potatoes-and-garlic/
My Clean Eating Blog
Green Living Reading List
green bean and tomato salad is a new favorite of mine (but DH thinks cold green beans are weird)
green beans boiled for 7-8 minutes than dipped in ice water
tomatoes
fresh mozzeralla
salt and pepper to taste
I use olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dressing, but I'm sure you could use any vinegar
I also blanche and freeze for use in the winter
A Spring Day on the Katy Trail
We blanch and freeze for use during the winter. For freezing, we follow the steps in How to Store Your Garden Produce. We freeze most veggies whole if they'll fit in the freezer bags. Green beans I snap into thirds so they will fit. The book outlines how to blanch veggies before freezing them. You wash the veggies, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, and boil the veggies for the time in the book. I have found most of the times are too long, the veggies end up soggy. Most veggies I boil for a minute or two. You then immerse them in ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. One they're cold, we package them in Food Saver bags and vaccum seal them. I don't know why the Food Saver machine is so $$$ on Amazon, we got ours for like $60 at Target. It's not on their website for some reason.
For recipes, we make:
Indonesian Tempeh with Green Beans and Crushed Peanuts
Chicken Noodle Casserole, we add frozen green beans to this and top it with breadcrumbs before baking it for about 15 mins at 350.
Steam green beans for 5 minutes, top with butter and salt. Easiest side dish ever.
Awesome recipes ladies! Can't wait to try them!!