Just can't get enough
We love to watch the people at the farm stands who pick out green beans one by one, making sure each has its stem and pointy ends intact. Sometimes it takes them 10 minutes to collect one perfect pound. What dedication! We, on the other hand, stuff these slender green wonders into plastic bags by the fistful and cook them by the potful. Summer's green beans take less than a minute to blanch in boiling water, and they simply must be rinsed very quickly with cold water -- better yet, plunged into a bowl of ice water. Drizzle them with olive oil and scatter them with chopped black olives; toss them with halved cherry tomatoes, morsels of cucumber, and a vinaigrette; or reheat them in a skillet with a nubbin of butter and lots of sea salt and add heaps to plates of grilled fish.
Native green beans (about $1.29 per pound) are available at farmers markets and farm stands.
