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...)
