Fresh Food Friday: Green Beans

Hi and happy Friday! We are getting to the part of the summer where all our hard work is paying off in the garden.

Here's what we picked a couple days ago. Every day is a different combination. We have so many green tomatoes just about to turn. This year we are trying out a variety of colors we've never grown before we're growing  purple, red, yellow and orange tomatoes, and green and purple beans. I am loving the rainbow of colors coming in every day! 

I honestly didn't even know you could grow purple beans until maybe last year. They are doing great and we've probably picked even more purple than green. We planted about eight bush beans and six pole beans. The bush beans we started indoors in April, and the last couple of weeks we've picked a handful a day, with no end in sight! Usually every two days we have enough for a side with dinner. I love how prolific they are and how long they continue to produce.

All garden produce should be so rewarding. Plus they are easy for the kids to pick, and the kids love the overnight gratification; beans that were small yesterday will be ready today. They seriously grow in like two days! So there's something for them to pick every single day.

Now for how we eat them: 

Boiled

This is so boring, but Thing one only likes soft veggies, so if we boil them he will eat them. I'm just glad he will eat fresh veggies from the garden. We got some wax beans from my parents' garden and I love the pretty mix. Heads up though, the purple ones turn green when you boil them!

Sesame Sauté

My favorite way to cook green beans is to sauté them in olive oil with salt and sesame seeds. 

Crudités
Although Thing One only likes cooked veggies, Thing Two will eat them right off the bush! And actually they are great raw, especially if you pick them before they get too big. They are perfect for these appetizers, or just on a veggie tray with dip. We can make a pretty great veggie tray with zucchini sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, fresh green beans, and snap or snow peas all from our garden. We even throw some herbs in there sometimes as a fun garnish.

If I could only grow a couple of veggies, green (and purple) beans would definitely be one of them! I hope you have a great weekend! Happy gardening and green bean eating!

- Haley