Freezing Green Beans
Fresh green beans picked right from the garden taste wonderful. When green beans are ready they start producing quickly. It’s more than you can eat, well unless you’re my friend with a family of six with four hungry teenagers. If not, it’s best to freeze them. A quick and easy process and you will enjoy them in the winter months to come.
I grow a stringless variety of bush beans and I only snap off the stem end. The other end is tender enough to eat. I leave them whole when I freeze them as well. If I’m doing a pole or runner bean, they have strings and both ends need to be snapped off. I also snap them in half or thirds, this helps in removing all the strings. Rinse the beans thoroughly and drain.
Bring a stockpot of water to a rolling boil. Have bowl of ice water ready and a dry kitchen towel laid out. Drop the beans in the boiling water, when the water and beans return to a full boil; remove the beans with a slotted spoon and place in the ice water. Once beans are cool; remove with the slotted spoon and spread on the towel. Pat dry. Place in a freezer container or bag then label and place in the freezer. Use them as you would with any green bean recipe, but they will not take as long to cook. Basically just reheat them. It is wonderful to have a stocked freezer of summer produce.
