Green Beans

The green beans are finally ready for picking today. I grow what I consider to be the best tasting bean ever: Northeaster. It's a flat-podded pole bean that stays tender and delicious to an 8 inch length. The wonderful thing about pole beans is that they produce over a long period of time, as opposed to the condensed harvest of bush beans; they also taste much better. I like the beans just steamed, though sometimes I'll stir fry them with a black bean sauce, or lightly dress them in olive oil and lemon juice. In winter I'll make a stew with onions, peppers, tomatoes and green beans. These beans are tasty out of the freezer all winter long; they may not have the fresh crunch of a supermarket-purchased bean, but they won't taste like a cooked pencil. Taste wins over texture for me.