I didn’t plant green beans this year. However, I love them and have grown so many types, I’ve lost count. Green beans are an easy veggie crop in Oklahoma. Just plant them after the soil warms (greater than 55 degrees F; between April 10-30 according to the Oklahoma extension service.) Fifty to sixty days later, you’ll have beautiful bean blossoms of white or lilac followed by beans. I’ve grown pole and bush beans, and I like bush beans best. It’s just a personal preference like indeterminate versus determinate tomatoes. Pick the beans at medium size and cook them the same day or next. You’ll be thrilled with the fresh taste.
I love beans whether they’re purple like ‘Purple Queen’ or yellow like ‘Cherokee Wax.’ I love them long and green like ‘Jade,’ or short and fat like ‘Roma II.’ Next year, I want to try the variety, ‘Black Valentine’ because it’s pretty. I do not like fuzzy though. Fuzzy green beans give me the willies. All of the purple varieties turn green when cooked. My favorite way to prepare them is simple:
Dee’s Green Beans
One or two pounds of green beans, whole if small or snapped if larger
Two tbsp. olive oil
Two garlic cloves crushed
One onion sliced or diced
Salt & Pepper
Saute the green beans, garlic and onions in olive oil until slightly browned and caramelized. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and lower heat until beans turn bright green and are cooked through. They will be slightly al dente (I know this is a pasta term, but I think it works here too.)
Margaret at A Way to Garden and Deb at the Dinner Tonight blog have more fun bean recipes on their sites as part of the summer Thursday Food Fest. If you know a good bean recipe, please join us by posting it on your blog, or through your comments here or there.
I cook my green beans the same way! Oh, I used to love the fresh green beans from the garden. And stringing green beans with my grandmother on the back porch is one really good memory I have from childhood.
xxxooo
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Thanks for visiting our site, Dee
We are so glad to see more and more people turning to their own gardens to inspire their dinner table
Love your blog
We’ve been eating lots of green beans too. Yum! Your recipe sounds yummy to me, but my husband likes them plain…cooked in a little water for a few minutes, with butter and salt. They’re delicious no matter what.
Yellow squash and zucchini abound, and the sweet corn is plentiful enough to give bushels away! We’ve had enough rain to make it a great harvest year.
We just picked our first cuke this week, and a handful of grape tomatoes.
Also eating peas, radishes, various lettuce, spinach, swiss chard…..
Aren’t fresh veggies great?
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Am planting my fall beans in a three sister planting in a couple of weeks…nothing as good as a simple bean dish.
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Sounds like a lovely idea. Let us know how it turns out.~~Dee
Green beans are on my list of things I want to grow when I attempt to plant my garden next spring. I’m already looking into how to preserve the garden foods. Hmm, I guess I’m putting the cart before the horse though. Maybe it would make more sense for me to research how to grow these plants before I worry about the fruits of my labor….
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Hi Cinj, you can do it! I used to do a lot of canning and preserving. I just grow small amounts now because, with teens, we’re out and about a bunch.~~Dee
Those beans DO look good, Dee! Last year I planted scarlet runner beans and I loved them for the flowers alone! They might be just a teeny bit “fuzzy” though, but it did not affect the taste. They were wonderful!
Hi Kathryn, I love the look of Scarlet Runner Beans, but they don’t like our hot Oklahoma summers. They won’t bloom here.~~Dee
Sounds good! Ben also likes it when I add some soy sauce to this combination–leaving out the salt, of course.
The photo is pretty enough to eat!
Robin
Gardening Examiner
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Hi Robin, soy sauce is a great addition. For GF folks, they need to make sure they choose Tahini Wheat Free Soy Sauce. Eden makes a good one.~~Dee
I’ve had to learn these past few years how to protect the bean plants from the rabbits, and I finally think I’ve mastered all the tricks to that, so my reward is delicious green beans. I eat a few raw as I pick them and cook the rest. My favorite variety is ‘Provider’. It’s just a good basic bush green bean.
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Carol, ‘Provider’ is a great provider indeed. I love it too.~~Dee
I love fresh green beans from the garden. I’ve grown bush & pole, no preference on my part really. My son loves them period so I wil definitely be growing those in my new veggie garden next season.
Just like me, you like them all. 🙂 ~~Dee
I’ve never grown green beans, but they sure look good, Dee! I’ve told myself I have to start planting veggies to eat. I’ve created a wildlife habitat, and now need to learn to feed myself!
Brenda
Brenda, start by planting a few things between the flowers. I like my stuff all mixed up.~~Dee
OK, I’ll give yellow wax beans a try again with ‘Cherokee Wax,’ at your recommendation. Maybe it’s just the pale color, but usually I think the wax beans are less flavorful. I like how they look, though. Thanks for joining us again today.
Margaret, I like the wax beans for their color contrast. They are not my favorite eating bean. Thanks for the idea.~~Dee
These sound yummy. I have the beans, but can’t decide what to do with them.
I was crushed when I read that the green beans in Chinese restaurants are FRIED first. Sigh.
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Brenda, these are close to those Chinese restaurant beans, but much more healthy.~~Dee