Asian Green Beans

With Maggie Mehaffey

There's no substitute for the taste and texture of fresh green beans! Don't ruin them by cooking them too much. Beans should never be cooked until mushy. They should retain some crispness. Plus, overcooking takes out nutrients! They are rich in Vitamins A, B1, B2, calcium, and potassium so it is worthwhile being careful when cooking them.

The beans are ready in most gardens right now, and will be for the rest of the summer. All farmers such as Mehaffey’s Farm plant several plantings, or succession crops of beans, so that they will now have them until frost! Home gardeners can easily do this too. Rather than having too many beans come all at once, it's so easy to stagger your plantings by putting in part of a row every two weeks. They are still planting them!  

Green beans take about 45 days, so there's just about enough time to plant some now for a late fall crop! You may want to consider doing what they do, which is cover the late plantings with garden cloth to protect against the first few frosts.

Maggie Mehaffey once again shares one of her favorite bean recipes that she makes with her own farm grown green beans. “The first time I made this recipe, my family went nuts because they really love spicy food. I started making this last summer, and it's been a big hit ever since. At my house, we use a sauce called Sambal Oelek, a ground fresh chili paste that's really quite hot. You can control the spice by using a milder chili sauce.”

Maggie also suggests that another great way to stir fry beans is to chop up lots of fresh garlic and ginger root, and saute in a wok with peanut oil, Asian style.

“Beans are also great roasted!”

Ingredients

3/4 pound green beans
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chile sauce
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoon oil

Instructions

1. Steam beans for 3 to 4 minutes
2. Mix soy sauce, garlic, chili sauce, and honey in a bowl
3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add green beans and fry for 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Pour in soy sauce mixture, cook and stir 2 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Maggie Mehaffey, Mehaffey’s Farm, 2011.

Maggie Mehaffey's family, who all help run the Mehaffey Farm,  have lived on their farmland since 1826. The house and barn date back to the early 1700s. The farm’s original 300 acres provided a sustainable living for several generations, until the mid 1960s when the dairy cows were sold. With the remaining 90 acres, we now engage in a new endeavor; to preserve the family legacy our ancestors began.