This is the best time of year for local food. There are still plenty of tomatoes, corn, and chiles around, and we're starting to see some of the great fall stuff, like winter squash and--most exciting--fresh beans.
Fresh beans are not unlike dried beans, but they're fresher and sweeter and they cook in about 20 minutes. Cranberry beans are the most commonly available variety, as well as my favorite. They come in lovely speckled pods which you can shell without too much effort, or you can get them already shelled and save some time.
I got a big bag of cranberry beans from Alm Hill Farm a couple of weeks ago. I ate them in mixed vegetable dishes, with pasta, and in one very tasty pot of chili. Last week I went searching for more, but nobody had any at Columbia City on Wednesday, or Queen Anne on Thursday, or Madrona on Friday. One farmer told me that they were growing some, but they were keeping them for themselves because they were so special.
Alm Hill did have a number of varieties of shelled beans, so I picked up some that were speckled black and tan. Nobody knew their name, in fact, the guy at the Alm Hill booth at Ballard on Sunday said he didn't think they even had a name, just something like B-17. I'm hoping to pick up some of those B-17's this week as well.
1 comment:
Stoney Plains has the cranberry beans, not shelled though. I have been getting them in my CSA and saw some at the Phinny market last Friday.
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