Monday, August 20, 2007

Preserving: freezing purple green beans

It's preserving time! I have yet to pull together canning and dehydrating equipment, but freezing doesn't require any special tools. I purchased about 8 dollars worth of purple colored green beans from J.R. Organics at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and we set to work immediately.

Rinsing the beans. Aren't they a gorgeous eggplant purple? I had no idea beans came in this color.

Brian trimming off the ends and cutting them into bite size pieces. Wow - look at those bright green innards!

The beans boiling for three minutes. I was very disappointed to find that my purple beans turned a normal green bean color once they were placed in the hot water. Oh well.

Draining after removing them from the boiling water.

Soaking in a bowl of icy cold water for three minutes (same time as they spent in boiling water).

Drained beans in a ziploc bag. I wish I had a vacuum sealer to pull out the rest of that air, but I worked with what I had. They won't last as long in the freezer packed like this but I'm more than pleased with our first attempt!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw some of those purple beans at the farmers' market today. I had no idea they would change to green when cooked!

BTW there was one organic farmer there this week, so I bought my tomatoes and squash from her this week.

Anonymous said...

I recognize that pot! It's experienced at blanching beans for the freezer! :-)

Anonymous said...

It's a pity the beans didn't stay purple. They were beautful! The world is seriously lacking in purple-tinted foods.

Alice Q. Foodie said...

This same thing happened to me - I got some purple beans in my be-wise box, and cooked them up to go in a cold green bean salad to serve with some Harissa Chicken - I was soo bummed when they turned green!

Also, I'm so glad to see you doing this! I'm also a SD food blogger, and I try to emphasize the local stuff, and am going to give the eat local challenge a shot for September. I will be following your adventures enthusiastically!

Melanie Lytle said...

Alice, glad to have another San Diegan on board! I'm curious how many more eat-localers there are out there. Would love to make this a group effort - it's always easier that way.