Green Beans — season, tips, and recipes in Australia
Green Beans is a vegetables available in Queensland during November, December, January, February, March, peaking in December, January, February. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy green beans, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
Grown in all states during warmer months. Queensland produces beans year-round. One of the most productive crops per square metre at home.
How to pick a good one
Should snap cleanly when bent. If they bend without breaking, they're old. Slim, firm, no visible seeds bulging.
How to store it
Fridge in paper bag, 4-5 days. Blanch and freeze for longer.
Goes well with
garlic: Garlic's savoury glutamates provide the flavour structure that beans' mild flavour lacks. Most good green bean dishes have garlic in them.
almond: Green beans with toasted almonds provides textural contrast -- crisp nut, tender bean -- and flavour contrast: mild vegetable against rich nut. Green beans amandine exists because this pairing works consistently.
lemon: Acid brightens beans' green flavour. A squeeze of lemon after cooking makes beans taste freshly cooked rather than boiled.
sesame: Sesame's rich, slightly bitter nuttiness contrasts with green beans' mild sweetness. A common combination in Japanese and Korean cooking.
bacon: Smoked pork fat is savoury enough to make green beans interesting as a side dish. The fat also carries the vegetable's mild aroma compounds, amplifying both.
Recipes
Green Bean & Almond Salad
Crunchy, nutty, goes with everything.
Ingredients: 300g green beans, 2 tbsp flaked almonds (toasted), 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt
Method: Blanch beans 3 min until bright green. Drain, cool. Toss with toasted almonds, oil, lemon, salt.
Sesame Green Beans
Asian-style side. 5 minutes.
Ingredients: 300g green beans, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1 tsp sesame seeds
Method: Stir-fry beans in a hot pan 4 min. Add garlic, soy, sesame oil. Toss. Sprinkle seeds.
Green Beans with Bacon
The crowd-pleaser.
Ingredients: 300g green beans, 4 rashers bacon (diced), 1 clove garlic, squeeze lemon
Method: Blanch beans 3 min. Fry bacon until crispy. Add garlic, cook 30 sec. Toss with beans. Squeeze lemon.
Nutrition
One cup of green beans provides 25% of your daily vitamin C, 20% of your vitamin K, and 15% of your folate. Good source of silicon, a mineral important for bone and connective tissue health. About 31 calories per cup. One of the few vegetables with meaningful amounts of silicon.