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Beans are vegetables that are high
in protein, and are one of the least allergenic foods.
They also contain niacin, thiamine, vitamin B6, folic
acid, calcium, iron, phosphorous and potassium. So
beans make a really healthy substantial meal. They
can be eaten at the green stage as a meal in themselves,
or as an addition to a meat meal. They can also be
tossed into stir fries, cooked and eaten cold in vinaigrette
or mayonnaise, or used in soups or casseroles. The
possibilities are endless.
When
you can’t keep up with the harvest, the bean
seeds start to swell in their pods. Then you can eat
these as fresh shelled out beans. Simmer them for
a short while in water, strain, toss in butter or
oil, and serve hot or cold added to salads, or in
soup or pureed.
Again,
when you can’t keep up with the picking, leave
some whole plants to go to dry seed. Harvest these
at the end of your frost-free season. Nothing is wasted
! These dry seeds will be your winter soup/casserole
beans. These will need soaking overnight, or at least
for a few hours, to rehydrate them. Drain off the
water and put them in a pan with fresh water to cover.
Boil hard for 10 minutes and then drain them. Give
fresh water, bring them to the boil and simmer until
soft. Then use them in all your imaginative ways.
Eaten in their first winter after harvest, these beans
are digestible. It is when they have been bought in
shops and may be several years old that dry beans
oxidise and then become poorly digestible. If you
find them so, I recommend the herb Winter Savory (
a perennial herb). Add a few chopped sprigs towards
the end of the cooking time. The herb Summer Savory
(an annual herb for summer use) also aids the digestion
of beans.
Recipes
Here are a few recipes that can easily be adapted
to suit you and your families. Enjoy experimenting
with bean recipes at all their various stages of growth.
And remember, when the harvest is over and you have
cut down the stems, the old bean roots have already
put nutrients into the soil to help you to grow some
other vegetables in that place next year !
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