Green Beans
“Does the way I cook green beans count as a recipe?” I asked my family. My husband said “no” and my youngest said “sure” and the others didn’t care enough to look up from the game they were playing. Apparently, it was one of those questions that you ask because you don’t think you know the answer, but as soon as someone else answers, you realize that you do, in fact, have a strong opinion.
“It doesn’t matter how good and fresh the beans are,” I found myself explaining to my husband. “You’ve got to know to toss them in butter and garlic salt.” He didn’t seem convinced so I continued. “When I prepared beans that way for Josh and Annie, Annie said they were the best beans she had ever tasted.” “When did you make beans for Josh and Annie?” he wanted to know. (They are friends who had moved away years ago.) “Well, it was a while ago,” I admitted, “but a cook remembers a compliment like that.”
So with the glow of that compliment still fresh upon me, I sat down to write a post about beans. And here we are. And now that I think about it, I actually have three additional reasons to write about beans.
1. My sister-in-law is hopeful that my blog will inspire her back to more healthy eating. With that goal in mind, a vegetable post seems like it would be more helpful than another dessert recipe.
2. They say you should write about what you know. If that can be interpreted to mean you should write about what you have, then I should write about beans. Because I have beans. Twenty-two pounds to be exact. We stopped at my mother-in-law’s and she put the kids to work in the garden and then sent us home with all they picked--a giant garbage bag full of beans. Good thing my kids are well versed in the art of bean cutting. Double good thing that I know how to prepare them. Triple good thing we are able to consume beans every day for many days in a row without getting too terribly sick of them.
3. Finally, green beans are pretty cool. Did you know you there are yellow green beans as well as purple green beans? That truth is one of life’s profound mysteries. My personal preference is for the yellow beans. This preference dates back to my days of working in the kitchen at a nursing home where I would chow down on the canned waxed (yellow) beans on my dinner break. I had such unsophisticated taste back then. Beans from a can? Really! Though I now prefer my beans from a vine, I do still enjoy the yellow beans best. The purple beans tend to grow too plump for my taste, but it is interesting to note that purple beans turn green when you cook them. However, if you then look closely you’ll notice a purple residue on your plate when they are gone. That’s a pretty cool trick proving that beans are, in fact, a pretty cool vegetable.
So get yourself some fresh green beans (green, purple, or yellow) and follow this simple recipe. Serve them to a friend (preferably named Annie) and be prepared to receive a whopping-good compliment. The kind a cook remembers for a long time.
Green Beans
Ingredients
- 12 cups of green beans, washed and trimmed
- 2 TBS of butter
- 1/2 - 1 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in the bottom part of a double boiler. When the water is boiling, add the beans to the upper part of the pot, cover, and steam for about 15 minutes. Beans should be tender but not mushy. (Alternately, you could boil beans if that is your preference.)
- After the beans are done, put them in a large serving bowl and toss with butter and garlic salt to taste.
