The beauty of beans

Beans are being harvested at the farm right now and they look glorious!

Beans trace their origins back to Central and South America, they are rich in vitamins A, C and K, in addition to being a good source of folic acid, calcium and fibre. Their flavour pairs particularly well with onion, lemon, parsley, tomato, hard cheeses, quinoa, bacon and eggplant.

You may be lucky enough to get some different coloured beans arriving in your veg box, as we are growing green beans, purple beans and yellow beans (also known as butter or wax beans). Green beans get their colour from chlorophyll, whilst yellow beans are simply green beans that have been bred to have none of this pigment. This has little impact on the flavour, however yellow beans do have an advantage when used in long-cooked dishes because green beans can tend to turn a drab olive green (whilst yellow beans change very little in colour). Purple beans are essentially green beans disguised in a violet hued skin! Once cooked, the violet fades to green. There is not much you can do to preserve the colour if you are cooking, but they look fantastic used fresh in salads (especially if sliced lengthways to showcase their bi-coloured nature). If you do want to minimize colour-loss during cooking, you can blanch them, singe them on

the grill, or toss them into a stir-fry at the end for a couple of minutes. The colour will fade a bit, but they remain purplish.

Enjoy!

Emily Henderson,
Fair Food and Farm Manager.

In your box:

Note: We sometimes need to make changes to what we pack in your veg box based on the quantity or quality of produce that we can harvest and source. If you have any questions about what is in your box, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Did you know?

Parella is an herb frequently used in Vietnamese and other Asiatic cooking. It’s flavour is a combination of basil and mint but more similar to a mint flavour. You can use this in salads, stir-fries, or pizza, but it is most popularly used in rice paper rolls! Add this to any meal you’d like to have a fresh feel to it!