[andtiggertoo]

I got a bit carried away when buying my first lot of veg plants back in spring. I seem to have bought some white french runner beans.

They've looked fab whilst growing and have been lovely to look out of the window on with they're white flowers.

Now I realise it's something I've never really eaten !

How should I cook them and what with ( I'm vegetarian). I've noticed lots of you talking about blanching them, but I just want to eat them fresh for now. Also I don't know if I've harvested them at the right time. Some of them are more mature than others and you can see where the beans are because the pods are bulged out, some are flatter but the beans inside are small.

I would be very grateful for advice :oops:

[orfy]

I've just chopped a load and put them in the slow cooker with a tin of curried chick peas, some stock, a couple of chopped potatoes, garlic, bay leaf and tomato purée.

[andtiggertoo]

Thanks  

do you eat the pods as well then ? They are quite fleshy but i didn't know if they'd taste of much ?

I  must admit i thought if i removed the beans i'd be throwing a lot back on the compost heap.  :oops:  :shock:  :oops:

[orfy]

Yes. I just top , tail and cut them.

The only ones I grow and don't eat the pod on is broad beans,

Jamie Oliver does plenty for bean recipes.

I just make mine up.

[andtiggertoo]

Thanks orfy. I will experiment.

[Aunt Sally]

Pick runner beans young - before the beans have developed much.

I remove the string from each (long) edge and slice the rest of the pod into diamond shapes.  Boil in salted water or steam lightly and drain while the still have a bit of a crunch to them.  Delicious with a knob of butter  

They look like this when cooked (I think these have some onion with them)

[SalJ1980]

Pick runner beans young - before the beans have developed much.

Thanks for that Aunty, I was wondering when I should pick them!  

[noshed]

You can eat broad pean pods too, if you pick them small