Nana's Famous Green Bean Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the green looking beans that Chinese eat? ›

It turns out the Chinese long bean is a vigna unguiculata, the same botanical species as black-eyed peas and other field peas. But these are picked when the peas are immature and the pods are still edible, just like green beans.

The vegetable helps fight inflammation and is a good source of folate and potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure. Green beans also are a good source of protein and fiber, which helps lower cholesterol, Vadiveloo said. "Fiber is underconsumed by U.S. adults and children, and it's good for gut health," she said.

You can saute them in some fresh herbs, warm them in a bit of vegetable or chicken stock and a squeeze of lemon juice, add some crispy lardons of bacon or some caramelized onions. There are lots of possibilities. Do taste them before adding salt, as most canned vegetables already have too much salt added.

Some people (especially food service establishments relying upon your satisfaction) add an alkaline ingredient, such as baking soda, to the cooking water to help retain the color of green vegetables.

Put a pan of salted water on to boil. Meanwhile, trim the the beans. Once the water is boiling, steam or boil the beans until tender. Drain well, then tip the cooked beans into the bowl with your dressing and toss everything together, making sure all the beans get coated.

While Epicurious notes that the shells themselves aren't toxic, they are difficult to chew and will likely be a challenge to swallow and digest. This makes them inedible, in contrast to the succulent beans they come with.

Edamame – The green beans from Japan| fooby.ch.

Laba garlic is abundant in micronutrients such as kalium, ferrum, selenium, zinc and folic acid. So, aside from eating it directly as an appetizer, it is also used in Chinese medicine to prevent colds and to lower blood pressure. Note that eating too much laba garlic will make one feel weary.

Promote heart health

“Green beans contain folate and potassium, two nutrients that may boost your heart health,” says Whitson. “These nutrients can help regulate your blood pressure when combined with other healthy lifestyle choices like diet and exercise.”

Broccoli is a great source of Vitamin K and calcium. Green bean has more alpha-carotene than broccoli, however, broccoli contains more lutein + zeaxanthin than green bean. Both green bean and broccoli are high in Vitamin C, dietary fiber and potassium. Broccoli has more pantothenic acid.

What happens if you eat a lot of green beans? ›

Lectins are proteins present in green beans that help bind carbohydrates. Lectins cause digestive problems such as nausea, vomiting, bloating, and diarrhea. Cooking beans neutralizes the lectin, making them safe to eat, improves taste, and increases antioxidant levels.

Blanch Them

Blanching your greens is key to getting that bitterness level down. Because glucosinolates are water-soluble compounds, a lot of them are leached out into the water, allowing for a less bitter green.

To make the salad, blanch the beans by plunging them in boiling salted water for 1½ minutes until their rawness has been removed but they are still crunchy. Refresh immediately in cold water, then remove and put onto kitchen paper to absorb the moisture. Cut each bean into bite-sized pieces.

Steaming green beans gives them the same crisp-tender texture as blanching or boiling. Yet I think it preserves their lovely green color and allows the home cook more control over their texture than with those other two methods. Steaming is easy, too—and ease is what this recipe is all about.

The key to the best beans is to master how long to boil green beans. Cook the green beans, covered, in a small amount of boiling salted water until crisp-tender: 10 to 15 minutes for whole or cut green beans. 5 to 10 minutes for french-cut green beans.

They are knocked out by heat so putting vegetables into a big pot of boiling water deactivates the enzymes before they can break down the chlorophyll. Briefly steaming greens is the best way to retain their flavour and nutrients.