Young Scarlet Runner Beans
By
Terrie Johnson
Posted: 2024-11-19T22:20:24Z
Contributed by Eva Edwards and Dana Morgan
Reprinted from The Emerson Avenue Community Garden Cookbook
When runner beans were at their peak, we held a cooking demonstration at the garden and at the Westchester Farmers Market. We are both great fans of runner beans and want to encourage more gardeners to grow them. Runners do well in our coastal climate, and their advantages as a bean are many. They are very easy to grow, and the flowers are stunningly beautiful, truly a gorgeous edible landscaping plant. That’s reason enough to grow them; however, they are also delicious and versatile as a edible bean as find in the recipe below. The young pods, the shelled fresh bean seeds, and the dried beans all can be used in recipes.
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 lb. of green pods
¼ tsp salt for each 3 cups of water used
1 Tbsp. Butter or oil of choice
Sprig of Fresh Marjoram and/or Summer Savory (optional)
Directions
Prepare desired quantity of young runner bean pods by removing string from both sides and cutting the beans with a Frenching tool or cutting into thin strips lengthwise 2”– 4” long (longer if you wish). Young beans will be flat, like Roma beans, with little evidence of the bean seed in the pod. When the bean seeds have plumped up, the beans have become too fibrous.
Using 3-4 quart saucepan, fill 2/3 full of water and bring to a rolling boil. Add salt to water (about 1/4 teaspoon to 3 cups of water) and when dissolved add beans bringing water back to a boil.
Boil the beans for about 8 minutes. If they turn darker before this time, test one to see if it is tender enough for you. If it is still not tender enough, keep boiling a minute or two longer. Drain beans and add a knob (tablespoon) of butter or some olive oil if desired.
You may want to garnish the beans with edible scarlet runner bean flowers, fresh marjoram and/or summer savory.