beautiful, beguiling beans

While in the Bulk Barn (buying Chicago Mix eep!), I stumbled upon a bin of huge white beans - I have never bought, nor cooked these before, but they were so beautiful and beguiling - I just had to buy some! What to do with these big ol' beans? I checked out one of my favourite blogs:  /http://www.101cookbooks.com/ for advise, and sure enough, a recipe presented itself: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/giant-chipotle-white-beans-recipe.html I have kale, I have fresh oregano, I have cilantro all in the garden, so as soon as I got home I got 'em soaking:

The next day, they simmered in a pot with fresh bay leaves and garlic. The next day, I prepped the tomato/chipotle sauce, cilantro pesto, and breadcrumbs -

 fresh oregano makes all the difference!

 two kinds of kale!

 the big 'ol beans!

 cilantro pesto: so easy to make - just 4 ingredients: cilantro, oil, garlic and salt

 ready to assemble!

I decided it needed to go with polenta and just picked 'freckles' lettuce

And now I have leftovers for lunch, too :-)

oats and beans and barley grow

Well, beans and barley, anyways! and our first mescluns salad of the year, with snipped chives - finally!

Fall Garden Soup

Picked the last of the Kuri Squash and made a roasted veg and bean soup - the beans are dried Stevenson's Blue-eyed beans from Annapolis seeds - threw in some leeks, garden tomatoes, fresh herbs, and chopped kale. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kale_and_roasted_vegetable_soup/

Big Bean Give-Away

I have quite a few extra Scarlet Runner beans saved this year - If you are interested in these very easy to grow, beautiful beans, let me know, and I will send you some. These beans have been grown for many years by my neighbour, who brought them over from England about 50 years ago. They were grown by her father for many years before that, so you can be certain of their viability and heritage seed status. We grew ours up the back porch, and they produced many gorgeous, scarlet flowers which attracted hummingbirds. There were so many beans we were able to give lots away, as well. Send me your mailing address by email to sandybeach5@shaw.ca and I'll mail you these magic beans! Here's what they will look like:

bountiful beans

We planted Scarlet Runner beans up the back porch posts this year - they are in a big pot at the bottom of the stairs. These prolific beans are very wonderful and special, as they were brought over from England by our elderly neighbour (who has now passed away) and they were grown for many years by her father. I like to think of her when I see the lovely scarlet blooms - which attract hummingbirds, too! And it is good to know we can preserve seeds for the following years to come.

magic beans

These Scarlett Runner beans were given to me by my neighbour. They were her Grandfather's beans in England, and she's been growing them successively for almost 50 years - that's viable seed! This year we're growing them up the back porch - with their glorious red blossoms that attract fat bumble bees and hummingbirds ~ they should rival any clematis in town. The beans can be eaten in their pods while small and not too hairy, fresh out of the pod, or dried and cooked. They're worth growing just to hold the beautiful shelled beans in your hand like crimson and black jewels.