A Field of ...Beans:

I love dried beans: refried beans, bean soup, baked beans, pasta e fagioli, but I have never developed a real taste for green beans. Probably because we didn't have them much when I was a child. My mother thought that the two vegetable groups were corn and peas. (Oh, did I mention I also don't like the squeaky sound and squish that cooked beans make in my mouth?  TMI?). But, green beans are good for the soil, grow prolifically, and are really easy to grow here in central Virginia.

So I've tried to grow several different kinds of beans over the years, to no avail. But this year (hope springs eternal) I'm trying an heirloom variety, "Chinese Red Noodle," an "asparagus" type" bean from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.  It is supposed to have a less beany taste, is thinner than a standard green bean, is beautiful, and grows over a foot long. The flower is a pale lavender and the bean is a deep mahogany red. We are starting to harvest and eat it (mid-July). So far it is less beany in taste, though the mouth squeak remains. I'll continue to the harvest and try them in a variety of dishes. One way I have liked green beans in the past is in a stir fry with chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and the Korean chili paste gochujang.  I will report back!

Photo on top: The bean in my garden.

Photo below: The bean with two types of okra (to report on later...)