Our Home Cooking Series: How Do You Cook Fresh Green Beans (Plus Recipe!)

How to Cook Fresh Green Beans: Simple Techniques and a Delicious Recipe

Growing green pole beans in the hoop house is a specialty on our family farm. The heat of the hoop house in our Northeastern region gives us crisp, colorful goodness through the autumn months. Cooking sustainably can be as simple as cooking local vegetables that are in season, using methods that avoid over-processing the food.  I prefer to make beans as simply as possible for my little ones, centering on the crispness and natural flavor. This approach to how to cook fresh green beans is simple, quick and children love it. 

I hope to guide you in ~

• Choosing organic, local produce
• Sustainable cooking tips to reduce waste and ways to minimize toxins in the home
• Preparing and cooking fresh green beans
• Suggest simple, encouraging ways to encourage your little one to try cooked beans

Learn more about growing pole beans in a hoop house here with Jean Martin Fortier
.

Choosing Organic Fresh Green Beans 

There are many reasons we choose organic, local produce. One reason organic agriculture lives so close to my heart is because of the important role it plays with my parenting. Supporting local agriculture and sustainable living is a lifestyle choice which demonstrates love and appreciation to the natural world to my family. Our educational philosophy, rooted in Steiner’s Waldorf Education, puts substantial focus on parenting through imitation. By demonstrating healthy, sustainable eating, I believe I am enchanting my children with these same values. In parenting, we strive to inspire our children to eat produce which is in season and we believe doing this has many health benefits, both for our bodies and our planet. Eating locally reduces waste, supports local farms and families and builds community. Eating organic minimizes toxins in our food and honors our home planet. 

Other benefits of choosing local, organic beans include: 

Full Flavor: Fresh local beans are naturally sweet, with a crisp bite.

Higher Nutritional Value: Fresh beans contain vitamins A, C, and K, plus fiber and plant-based antioxidants.

No Waste: Shopping at your local farm implies no packaging, no preservatives.

Learn more about eating Organic with the inspirational Jean Martin Fortier here on his podcast.

Sustainability in the Kitchen & a Note on Water

In our Maine home, we use all natural cookware to reduce toxins and minimize harmful PFAS. I avoid using plastic kitchenware and instead use wooden and stainless kitchen tools. I also make sure we compost everything we do not eat and all veggie scraps – this has been so easy with the addition of a Mill food recycler in our home! 

Water is a vital part of our human makeup. We are thoughtful and conscious about the water we drink and use for cooking, all part of our sustainable, healthy  lifestyle. In our home, we feel it is significant to have both clean, purified water, as well as water that is a high 9.5 pH. 

Water with a higher alkalinity offers many benefits, like enhanced hydration, antioxidant properties and improved digestion. Many at-home machines can provide on-demand high pH, which works great for families or individuals looking to prioritize alkalinity. There are also glass, bottled alkalized water options which can be more cost effective. 

Purified water which has been tested and non-treated is free from toxins and harmful added chemicals and bleach. All over the world natural springs offer filling stations, local municipalities have purified water exchanges and at-home purification systems can be purchased to ensure truly, clean drinking water. 

Cora’s Favorite Non-Toxic Cookware 

Jordan’s Favorite Alkaline Water Ionization Machine

Prepping Fresh Green Beans

1. Simply snap off the stem ends to compost. This is a fun task for small hands. Including your child in this purposeful work is a great afternoon activity. Children are more likely to try food that they help prepare.

2. Gently rinse the beans in a strainer with cool water. When we buy organic produce, leaving a bit of dirt can be beneficial. These minerals and microbes can increase immunity and aid in digestion. Leaving spots and bruises on our imperfect vegetables also plays an important lesson for little ones, showing them that the natural world is not always perfect and wrapped in plastic. The imperfections in life can be beautiful.

Recipe: How to cook Fresh Green Beans

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 10 min Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed

Filtered, alkalized water

Garlic

Maldon flake salt

Good olive oil

Instructions:

Prepare the green beans by taking off the stems on each end – this is great job for children! 

Heat olive oil on a medium heat and then add in the garlic.

Add the green beans and cook until brown but still crisp (5-6 minutes). 

Remove from heat and season with Maldon Flake Salt.

Drizzle over some Le Marké Balsamic Oil to finish (optional)!

Simplicity connects us to Mother Earth

Fresh green beans require only good ingredients, a little time, and attention to flavor. Sometimes the most simple preparation is the most delicious and in this case, honors this humble vegetable. 

There are many ways to inspire healthy eating with little ones. A simple suggestion is to include your children in the gathering, preparation and cooking process.  If your child can tag along to the local market, allow them to choose and gather the fresh beans from the farmer. If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, you have surely seen the remarkable love and care that children uphold as they harvest the beans directly from the gardens. Allowing your child to help snap the tips and place the beans in a bowl for rinsing can be a fun hands-on task for young ones. Children learn through imitation. If your wee ones see their family enjoying fresh, healthy vegetables, they too will become curious and eager to explore these foods alongside you. Continue offering foods, even if they are not successful the first time. Sometimes it takes many times of seeing fresh green beans on the plate for your little one to try a bite. Lowering our expectations is also a gentle reminder that has helped me immensely as a mother. Rather than expecting my child to eat a plate of green beans, I simply strive for them to eat one, perhaps two beans. This, in my eyes, is a success. 

Preparing the beans in this simple way will ensure your child can taste the earthy, crispy, sweet bean without unnecessary flavors and spices, allowing them to develop a taste and love for the pole bean vegetable. 

Discover more Seasonal Recipes here with Julius Roberts.

Read about transforming your child’s “No” into “Yes” with Faith Collins in her book: Joyful Toddlers and Preschoolers.

Read about why we should be eating organic food here! 

We are thrilled that Mill was able to help us keep this recipe even more low impact by recycling all of Jordan’s food scraps and waste efficiently in her home kitchen. Learn more about why we love the Mill food recycler HERE!