Summer Besties: Green Beans & Tomatoes

The flavor and texture of some veg simply excel in summer, in season. Green beans of any kind and a good ol' dirt-grown tomato are chief among these. No wonder they taste so good together.

Add garlic, onion, some fresh herbs, and it's divine. I'll have you know, the oregano grows wild in our driveway. Not intentionally at this point, but it smells so good when you walk on it.

This version is good stovetop as done here, but is equally tasty roasted. I've used convection roasting on this, give the beans a little char, up the sweetness on the maters... mmmm.....

This post was previously shared on my On the Table page. 

Dilly Garlic Beans

Pickles were never a favorite when I was younger. Too bitter, too tart. My maternal grandmother made outrageously good pickled beets though, and I still love sweet/sour over just sweet or just sour.

These days I enjoy eating pickles almost as much as I love making them. They are by far the easiest, most tweakable thing to put up. While you can't really change the acid and/or sugar balance too far and still keep them safe, you can add all sorts of vegetables and spices. 

Dilly Beans "before"

These Dilly Beans were totally inspired by the recipe by Marisa McClellan at Food in Jars. Even so, I looked for every green bean dill pickle recipe I could find, and made a big spreadsheet comparing all the ingredients to find the common themes. What can be changed, what is mandatory. It's my first try at Dilly Beans, and the scientist in me can't help herself (hey, it's a new kitchen protocol! You geeks out there, and you know who you are, know exactly what I'm sayin' - am I right?!). 

Deciding on the common-theme green bean dill pickle recipe (1 cup water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1 tablespoon kosher salt; process pints for 10 minutes), I added a garlic clove, couple tiny dried red chillies, and a few black peppercorns to each jar. The hard part now is waiting a couple weeks before trying them. The Bloody Marys will have to wait.

Dilly Beans "after"

There were no cucumbers

Well, no bushels of cucumbers at pickle-making prices. So we came home with this lot instead:

We spoke with the farmers, and our Wisconsin summer has been too cold. Tomatoes and cucumbers will be another couple weeks. Beans and beets, however, look grand.

Looking at that haul, I can't help but see pickles. Maybe I should have that looked at.