Fresh Green Beans

As summer is drawing to a close, I picked quite a few of the last of the green beans from the garden and went to a couple of the neighbors giving them these wonderful freshly picked green beans.  I was very surprised when one young mother announced that she only bought frozen or canned green beans, because "I don't know how to prepare them freshly picked from the garden!".  After giving her a quick tutorial, she gladly took the beans and proclaimed that they would have them for dinner.  I thought how many other people pass up on the wonderful taste of fresh green beans simply because they either don't know how to prepare them or think it's too time consuming?  Let me show you how quick, easy, and inexpensive these delicious items are to prepare and you won't go back to frozen or canned again.  I will show you a vegetarian version, and give you other options with meat at the end:

Here is approximately 1 pound of beans, and you will easily get 4 servings.  First you will need to wash your beans in clean water.  Since my beans come from my garden and are "spray free", I know I can wash them only once or twice, and they are clean from dirt and bugs.  If you don't know where your beans have been grown, it is best to wash them 3 or 4 times to make sure any pesticides, bugs and all the dirt is removed.

Now you want to remove just the tip of each end.  You will notice that I am not removing very much of the bean.  If there is a small blemish, go ahead a cut that out also.  I usually leave my beans whole, but it you want to cut them into half or thirds, (depending on their length), it's your choice.

 Put your beans in a pot, with just enough water to cover them.

Now for this amount of beans, I am going to use 2 VERY small onions from my garden, (these would equal 1 medium sized onion).

Peel and slice the onion rather thin.

 Add the onion to the pot of beans.

I like to add 1 clove of garlic.  This is optional, but I find it really adds more flavor to the green beans.

Peel and chop the garlic.

 Now add 1/2 teas of salt and 1/2 teas of pepper

That's it!!  Cover the beans with a lid, and cook over medium-low heat for approximately 25 minutes.  Stir every so often to make sure the beans don't burn and to see if you need to add a little more water.

OK - it's been 25 minutes, the beans have a nice bright green color, (much better than any canned green beans).  Their tender, but still retain their shape.  They smell wonderful.  And in the same amount of time it took me to cook a pot of potatoes for mashed potatoes, I also cooked a pot of fresh green beans!!  A nice side dish.

NOW for those who enjoy some meat on their plate:  If you have a slice of ham, or 3 slices of bacon - cut that up and add it to the beans with the onion and it will flavor the beans like you won't believe.  Another way I like to serve fresh green beans, is to add a slice of ham and fresh chopped potatoes and make a one pot meal.  And if I happen to have a couple of ears of corn, I break them in half and add them to the pot with the potatoes and ham.  It's like a New England feast when we have that for dinner.  So whether you decide to simply go vegetarian, or add meat, or make a whole meal, fresh green beans can't be beat for dinner.   If you haven't tried it, go to the farmer's market or the supermarket and buy a pound and ENJOY!!  Do it before the harvest is completely gone for the year.