I don’t know about you, but our CSA farm has us up to our eyeballs in green beans (and yellow beans … Owen thinks the yellow are better but they’re all the same to me). I’ve been trying not to blanch and freeze them, and I’m scared to pickle or lacto-ferment them (botulism waiting to happen….), so we’ve been looking for ways to eat them fresh and not feel like we’re eating the same beans every night.
- Toss your green beans into a potato salad. Yeah, we’re swimming in potatoes too.
- Saute green beans with summer squash or zucchini, tomato, onion and garlic. Toss in some fresh herbs after you remove the veggies from the heat.
- Lemon green bean and celery salad sounds so summery and fresh, and shallots and fresh parsley round out the flavors.
- I’d eat almost anything if it had blue cheese on it, and these green beans with blue cheese and walnuts are no exception.
- This Asian green bean stir fry is so easy — just dump in a bunch of stir-fry veggies and some black bean sauce and you’re done.
- You know it’s a Paula Deen recipe because there’s butter and bacon, but these fancy green beans with teriyaki sauce, honey and cashews sounds good enough to eat.
- Steam green beans and toss with some lemon juice and stone ground mustard.
- Steam some green beans again, and toss with some butter and salt-free seasoning blend.
- Green beans with tomatoes and feta uses frozen green beans, but use your fresh ones (you could use your fresh tomatoes too) and enjoy your harvest.
- Vibrant tasty green beans is basically just green beans with leeks and dill, but that can’t be bad, right?
- Add some green beans to a rice salad or quinoa salad.
- Make a salad nicoise.
- Serve steamed green beans with pesto.
- Saute green beans with garlic, then toss with lemon juice and capers.
- Yummy, spicy Szechuan green beans with ginger, garlic, scallions, chili paste and soy sauce uses a special cooking technique to keep the beans tender but not mushy.
- Toasted almond green bean salad is so simple, but with the sesame oil and sesame seeds accenting the almonds, it’s got to be wonderful.
- Green beans a la Bob — just shake some crushed red pepper over them.
- Toss cooked green beans with the fresh herbs of your choice, something crunchy (think nuts or seeds) and something tangy (balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt).
- The answer to my fear of pickling (really a fear of canning) might just be this cheat recipe for quick pickled green beans.
- Green beans with roasted nuts and cranberries has the bean, the crunch and the sweet-tart … oh yeah.
- How can some of my favorite things all be combined in one green bean dish? Because someone has the brilliance to invent green beans with walnuts, fennel, and goat cheese — and they threw in mustard.
It would be fairly easy to think of 21 more things since green beans are so versatile … and delicious. What’s your favorite thing to do with green beans?
Photo Credit: Laurel Fan / Flickr
