Cathy Isom has some tips about how to pick and store one of the top 10 favorite vegetables in America. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Pick and Store Your Green Beans
A lot of people love to eat Green Beans. They’re in the top 10 most consumed vegetables in the United States. And they also have many aliases. String Beans, Pole Beans, Snap Beans, and Bush Beans. When it comes to picking these in the produce aisle or at your local farmer’s market:
Make sure that there are not any signs of decay, brown spots or shriveled. They just want to be nice and crisp and firm. And to keep them that way, until we use them, its best to keep them in the refrigerator.
That’s Laura Popielski with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. She also recommends that you:
Cover them in a loose, plastic bag. And you just want to make sure that there’s enough air going in and out of the bag, just in case there’s some moisture because the moisture will make the green beans go bad faster.
Beans should stay good for about a week in the fridge. But you can also freeze them.
But you need to blanch them first. Put them in hot, boiling water for about 3 to 4 minutes. And then throw them in cold water. And then you can put them in an air tight bag.
And they will keep in there for about a year.
I’m Cathy Isom…