THE MAINE MARKET BASKET

 A weekly news service for promoting 

 Maine's healthy, local and seasonal

 foods.

Featured crop: Fresh beans

By Roger Doiron for the Maine Market Basket

String, snap, green, wax, bush and pole: fresh beans get called many different things by different people, but I simply call them delicious. 

I didn't always feel this way.  One of my first memories of Maine beans was as a 12 year old boy picking peas and beans at a small, roadside farm in Scarborough. 

Instead of "delicious", words like "boring" and "endless" come to mind.  I was paid $5 for a bushel of beans and remember checking my bushel basket for holes on more than one occasion.  No matter how many beans I picked, it seemed like the basket would never fill up.

That farm is now long gone which is a shame, because the rolling fields of corn, beans, potatoes and pumpkins were far prettier than the crop of houses that replaced them. 

The experience of picking beans that long hot summer stays with me though and reminds me that if we enjoy the beauty of Maine farm landscapes, we need to learn to "eat the view" by giving Maine farmers and farmers markets our business.

If you haven't done so already this summer, buying some fresh, Maine-grown beans is a tasty way to start.

Click here for print-quality photo      

Shopping info:

It is best to handpick green beans from a farmstand or market that sells them loose. To ensure uniform cooking time, select beans of similar size and shape. Choose slender beans (no thicker than a pencil) that are crisp and free of blemishes. The beans should be a bright green color for snap beans. Avoid overgrown beans whose seeds are bulging through the pod as they will be tough.

Preparation info:

Wash beans thoroughly in clear, cool water and snip off the ends either with your fingers or a knife.  Beans can be cooked whole, cut crosswise or diagonally, or French-cut (i.e., cut along the length of the bean). If you want crisp fresh beans, cut them as little as possible.

Beans can be cooked in many different ways and combined with other fresh seasonal vegetables. For slender beans, try them steamed (3-5 minutes), sautéed or stir-fried (4-7 minutes).  For larger or overgrown beans, try roasting (15 minutes at 450 degrees) or braising them (20 minutes). 

Featured Recipe:

Simple Roasted Green Beans
 

This recipe will be a real discovery for most. Roasting vegetables brings out their natural sweetness more than any other cooking method. 

Ingredients:
2 pounds of green beans, trimmed

2 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Lightly grease a large sheet pan or shallow roasting pan with oil.
2. Arrange the green beans in a single layer on the prepared pan. Drizzle the oil over the beans and roll the beans until they are evenly coated.
3. Roast for about 15 minutes, or until the beans are tender and have started to brown, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking.
4. Transfer the beans to a shallow serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Did you know?

• Fresh beans are low in calories (just 44 calories per cup) and are a good source of vitamins K, A, and fiber.

• Boiling beans releases nutrients into the water.  To recover lost nutrients, try reusing the water by, for example, using the water for boiling rice. 

• Beans continue to cook after you take them out of boiling water. 

• Green beans are often called string beans because years ago a fibrous string ran along the seam of the bean. The string was noticeable when you snapped off the ends. The snapping noise is the reason for its other nickname.

What else is in season?

Seasonal availability of produce in Maine varies from week to week and from one farm or farmers' market to the next.

Fresh Maine-grown beans are available from mid July through late September.

The following items are also considered widely available statewide as of this date: salad greens, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, snap and wax beans, beets, broccoli, beet greens, peas, new potatoes, swiss chard, onions, scallions, zucchini and summer squash.

For more info on the seasonal availability of Maine produce, see the chart posted here.

Where to buy fresh, Maine-grown foods in your area:

       Find farmers markets in your area here

         Find farmstands in your area here

        Find CSA farms in your area here

     Find local "pick-your-own" farms here

For more info about the availability of Maine food and farm products, please see: http://www.getrealmaine.com

Click here for a camera-ready version of the "get real. get maine!" logo

About the Maine Market Basket: