From Pod to Pot – Beans are the Best!

Beans are an unsung hero of both the garden and the kitchen. Easy to grow, good for the soil, super nutritious and delicious!

This was the first year I went all in on beans that weren’t the standard green bean. Oh, I grew those too! Easy to grow and cook beans!

Pole Beans vs. Bush Beans

These are different. Think black beans, lima beans, kidney beans…..then think fresh, not dried! What I grew were 1500 Year Old Cave Beans I ordered from Baker Creek Seeds. Planting for Spring!!!

I tried to do this as a traditional Native American garden planting corn, beans and winter squash together. Total fail. Well — not quite total — I got a lot of beans but they smothered everything else. They even tried taking out some sunflowers but those beauties were mostly tough enough to stand up to them!

I’m not blaming the historic design, though. Operator error, I’m sure! I just planted too much. Combining square foot gardening with a Native American design and I overwhelmed the corn and smothered the squash!!!

But I got plenty of beans! The flowers weren’t as showy as the peas were. I didn’t even think I had any beans on the plant. Then as I looked closely….Voila!!! They were all over.

If you pick them very young, you can use them like green beans. Wait until the pod fills out, though. I got the most beautiful white and Burgundy colored beans! I picked them and either cooked with them fresh or blanched them for three minutes in boiling water and froze them. They are creamy and delicious and SOOOO much better than store bought.

When I finally pulled the beans because I wanted my garden paths back, I found a few pods that had dried on the plant. Inside was a dried bean that I’m sure I could have stored through the winter. (I just added them to my soup, however, a little earlier than the fresh beans and they cooked up just fine. Dried they had more Burgundy with streaks of cream.

I’ll definitely be planting these babies again next year but on a bean trellis!

In the meantime, a hearty fall soup featuring 1500 Year Old Cave beans.

Cave Bean Soup

This is a pretty standard and easy recipe for soup. But to make a really good soup, it starts with the stock. Choose a good stock that is low in sodium or better yet, make your own!

It begins with a basic sauté of onion, carrot and a couple of small hot peppers (omit if you are heat sensitive). Sauté until the onion is soft.

Then in went some tomato paste.

I sautéed it until it was slightly deeper in color.

Next went in some chopped tomatoes, soy sauce or tamari and rosemary (from the garden, of course!).

When everything looked combined and smelled aromatic, in went six cups of vegetable stock. Then I added the beans from the garden. These were fresh beans and took about 30 minutes to become soft and buttery. I brought the stock to a boil, reduced to a simmer and let it go for about 30 minutes until the carrots and beans were cooked and the flavors melded.

If you used dried beans here, I would cook them before hand and add them in during the last five minutes of cooking just to warm them through. Same think if you’re using canned beans. If using pre-cooked beans, you probably will only need to let the soup simmer 15 to 20 minutes until the carrots are soft, then add in the beans.

Meanwhile, chop 8 ounces of your favorite sausage. Mine is a vegan sausage — either Field Roast Italian or Beyond Sausage Italian are my favorites. Chop it into bite sized pieces and sauté until it’s a little crispy and browned, then add it to the soup.

To make it a full mean, a side salad and either a crusty bread or corn bread would work really well. This soup filled me up and is one of those end of summer fall is coming treats!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced carrots
• 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
• 2 small hot peppers, chopped (optional)
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 1 Tbs. Tamari or soy sauce
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 1/2 cups beans
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 8 ounces vegan sausage (or sausage of choice)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Sauté onions, carrots, pepper and a sprinkle of salt in a bit of olive oil until the onion is just soft. Add the tomato paste and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the paste begins to darken slightly, about 5 minutes. Add in chopped tomatoes, rosemary and soy sauce. Let simmer for just a minute until fragrant. Add stock and fresh beans. (If using pre-cooked or canned beans, wait until just after carrots are cooked and add them in then.) Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes until the beans are cooked but not mushy. (If using pre-cooked beans, you’ll probably only need to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the carrots are tender.)

Meanwhile, sauté the sausage until browned. Drain any excess fat that has accumulated. If using vegan sausage, you’ll have very little if any fat and will need to add a little bit of oil to your pan to brown the sausage.

When the soup is cooked, add in the sausage. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt and pepper. If you like your soup spicier than this, add in some red pepper flakes or hot sauce.

Enjoy!