Full of Beans

[Romano beans from the Belmont farmer's market; 7/8/10]

In summers when I was growing up in southern New Hampshire, we enjoyed fresh vegetables from my grandfather's acre-sized garden all summer long. Besides huge quantities of tomatoes, which they canned and we used in spaghetti sauce and stews all winter, he grew peppers, carrots, cucumbers, celery, lettuce, corn, radishes, potatoes, and probably more that I can't think of or was too picky to eat. But a favorite was the yellow wax beans he grew that my dad would bring back in large bags for us to clean and pinch the ends off of. My mom and I would sit in the back yard snapping yellow beans into a mixing bowl full of water. Then she'd lock them into the pressure cooker until the regulator would rock madly and the beans steam-softened into near-mush (alas). We'd slather butter on them and they tasted like heaven.

More recently, living out in Grafton, Mass. near lots of farm stands, I discovered that Romano beans have a flavor reminiscent of those yellow beans of summer, especially when slathered with butter. I'd eat an entire plate of them, sometimes with an ear of corn or two on the side. Unlike a lot of other vegetables, they still seem to be available for a short time, a summer-only treat, from farm stands or, as I found today, from the local farmer's market. We've been in the midst of a high-humidity heat wave here in the Boston area (you might say we're steaming into wilted beans ourselves) and, not wanting to fuss over supper tonight, I was happy to cook a plateful of the fat beans (about 6 minutes in boiling salted water), nibble at a store-bought rotisserie chicken, and slather butter on both the beans and a couple of slices of 7-grain bread for a nice summer meal.

Comments

[marja-leena]

How very blessed you were to have your grandfather's bounty to grow up on! That plate of beans looks scrumptious and what a good idea to buy a cooked chicken in this heat! We've been eating salads for days now.

[Leslee]

Yes, we were lucky! It gave me a great love of fresh produce in the summer. I've been treating myself to a bit more cooked foods, too - we have a wonderful produce market not far from here that also sells some cooked foods - a great combination!

[Sky]

your beans look delicious!

i am so ready for a southern summer veggie meal, but our spring/early summer has been so cool nothing is even close to ready for harvest. time to shop for CA summer veggies - i want fresh corn, sliced tomatoes, baby limas, okra, yellow squash stewed with onions, and cornbread.

[Lucy]

There seemed to be a time when we were being given a lot of those yellow wax beans, but we couldn't work up much enthusiasm for them - beans should be green! Also we're a bit jaded with trad French beans anyway, since one is presented too often with them squidgy and olivaceous! Runner beans now...

Anyway, yours look deicious.