Runner beans

[Maggiethecat]

Not gardening advice but just wonder if anyone has any tips for using up runner beans.
After a slow start we now have a glut!
I usually sauté them or add to stir frys but I think the family is a bit tired of these.
I’ll look up some recipes but would be good to hear any of your favourites.

I adore runner beans you are so lucky.
i sometimes see them on honesty tables outside peoples houses could you do that ?

Mixed bean salad, with light dressing, either: red wine vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, black pepper, herbs,or olive oil,half that amount of agave,pinch ginger . You can serve it with anything,hot cold. Tomorrow I am using some (not runners, I grow French climbing beans now) feta,dash single cream,milk , eggs, black pepper, little basil, quiche filling. I do very occasionally put veg outside... have a glut of apples now,you have to be careful of charging. I put " please help yourself,free".

I’ve offered them to some friends now but will consider putting them in a box outside the house in future.

I’m going to be a bit more creative with using them in salads!
We waited so long to harvest them I should make good use!

@Maggiethecat i had some leftover recently. I made a cherry tomato feta and runner bean frittata it was lovely

they are seasonal aren’t they I have never seen them frozen I absolutely love them

@CalzoneOnLegs - I was reading that they can be blanched then frozen.
Funnily enough last night I did a lazy dinner. Made a Spanish omelette with eggs and harvested potatoes, onions and runner beans. It was delish!
I reckon I’ll try adding the beans to everything 😊
I kid you not, the yield is massive but then I think we planted about 15 plants - the poor bean frame is wobbling 😂

Well I wish you were my neighbour and your omelette sounds right up my street !

try the blanching, imagine having those with your Sunday dinner in the winter, nice

I have bags and bags Blanched and frozen for winter.

Offered some up on the street group chat and no one has taken up 😂

Will def try the blanching then!!!

Heathens !

Freezing is definitely the way to go. I've done it without even blanching and they turned out fine. Just slice them first.

My mum used to prep them and freeze. Wed eat them all winter.

I just abandon bags of them on doorsteps and run away.

We blanch them and freeze them, so we have a supply over the winter

@Maggiethecat , you could go half and half - use half now as runner beans, blanched and frozen as needed.

Let the other half ripen fully and then pod the beans and use as you would butter beans. They are absolutely delicious - the actual bean in the Greek Gigantes Plaki is a strain of runner beans. I actually like them better this way.

I cook them all at once in a big stock pot then portion them for the freezer to use in soups and casseroles all autumn and winter.

@PestoHoliday I didn’t know that, love Gigantes, I’ve made them using butter and cannellini beans but they never taste like in Greece ☀️🍅

I made a kind of Frankenstein pesto last week with chopped up runners (blanched then cooled), plus cashew nuts all whizzed in the food processor with green herbs that were wilting in the fridge. Mixed the lot with cream cheese and cheddar/parmesan and black pepper.

Was lovely on toast for lunches or on crackers or a chunky ‘dip’ on slices of red pepper.

I use them instead of spaghetti with bolognaise sauce.

If I'm not in the mood for a proper dinner, I sometimes have a plateful with a bit of brie or blue cheese melted through.
My mum used to freeze them, and they come out OK but more floppy than al dente.

The ones I grew were gorgeous purple beans inside the pod, but lost their colour once cooked (as usual). The beans were very large and delicious! DH had them in chicken casseroles, I used them mostly in vegetable dishes.

Slice and freeze, I’ve never blanched them in over 50 years of growing runner beans!

@PestoHoliday thank you for that as I had no idea that runner beans inside beans would ever be left to get big, I suppose someone realised that the ‘bean housing’ tasted good at some point, a bit like the sugar snap peas maybe.
Gigantes are easy to make, I follow this lady and she does amazing recipes, it’s one of hers.

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/
@Maggiethecat probably lots of bean adaptable recipes on here

You have been lucky if not blanching first. I only do 60 seconds rolling boil, straight into iced water ,dried off,and they will last a year . The blanching kills off unwanted enzymes..I also leave the last plant,let the bean pods dry out and bag up for the following years crop.
.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/summer-runner-bean-stew

I make something like this and then freeze - it's nice in the winter. They freeze well I find even if you don't blanch them.

This recipe works for young runner beans as well - cook them in boiling water for 3 mins before storing in oil.

https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscany/summer-preserves-french-beans-in-oil

Delia Smith runner bean chutney is amazing. Easy and absolutely amazing with cheese!