Thrifty Good Food

The bounty of colorful beansAugust is supposed to be our one chance at real summer in Maine as experience has taught us from past summers, but apparently Mother Nature has other designs for us this year. There is actually a cricket chirping on our patio already, signifying that it thinks that fall has come.

My relatively shady garden seems to be equally confused by the cool and dry weather. The cherry tomatoes are extremely reluctant to turn red, the pickling cucumbers seem to be stuck at the miniature stage, but beans are having a field day.

We started with a good crop of the tender wide Italian Roma II beans followed by some good and straight stringless beans destined for jars of dilly beans, but the amazing abundance of yellow wax and blue beans has me scrambling for a variety of new recipes for string beans.

The blue beans have been particularly prolific this year. It is always fun to grow some, since they look so dramatic on a raw vegetable tray, especially when paired with the yellow wax beans.

It would be so nice to serve the same combination as well steamed, but alas the blue beans turn green when heated and the anthocyanin color is converted to regular chlorophyll green. Amazingly, this does not happen with blue potatoes, since they remain blue upon cooking.

Crisp steamed or cooked green colored beans pair well with small white beans or garbanzos in a filling and colorful summer salad.

Two bean and chorizo saladCook 1/3 to 1/2 pound green or blue beans in salted water for 3 minutes, quickly chill in ice water and cut in pieces about an inch long. In a large bowl combine: One 15 oz. can of drained small white beans, 1/2 small onion finely chopped, 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper, 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley, 3 oz. finely diced ready to eat chorizo and the cut green beans. In a small bowl combine: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, with 3 Tbsp. sherry or white wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano and 1/4 tsp. cumin. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette and serve over lettuce leaves. Garnish with 2 hardboiled eggs cut in quarters lengthwise and sliced radishes.

A festive way to serve warm string beans to a group is toss them, after cooking for no more than 3 or 4 minutes, with melted butter, 1/2 cup of slivered almonds and juice of half a lemon.

A more elaborate dish can be made with green and yellow wax beans and an Oriental style topping. The dish can be made also with only green beans, but the contrasting color adds eye appeal.

Oriental two color beansFor this you will need a long serving plate and about 3/4 pounds each of slender yellow and green (or purple) beans. Have beans cleaned and ready to cook in salted water for 3 to 4 minutes. To prepare the topping, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a 10-12 inch frying pan over high heat and stir in 1 large chopped onion, 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms, 1 large seeded red pepper cut in 1/4 inch strips, 2 cloves chopped garlic and 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger. Cook with stirring until liquid has evaporated and the mixture starts to brown.

Then stir in 1/2 cup water, loosening any brown bits from the pan and repeat the step once more. Then stir in 1/4 cup water with 1 Tbsp. honey and 3 Tbsp. reduced salt soy sauce. Stir until liquid has evaporated, set aside to keep warm until the beans are ready.

Cook the beans for 3 minutes, drain and arrange on the long platter with each color beans on different sides sideways. Spoon the topping the center length of the platter, covering part of the beans. Garnish with 1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts.

Gardens invariably lead you to discover new ways of cooking the summer bounty.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)