A long time waiting green beans

It seems a long time since the end of March when I planted my bean seeds in a pot. Its hardly been 'Jack and the beanstalk' but as you can see they seem to make a good item to cultivate in a small area, which is ideal for urban plots, balconies or where space is limited to pots. They are just fruiting now so hopefully over the next few weeks I will have them as a nice addition to my table. They are arriving just in time to go with rice and lentils that are on offer at my nearest halal grocers for Ramadan. Simply chopped and added to red lentils and rice whilst cooking, they add that nice fresh green crunch and you dont need to add much more than a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper. But of course add more flavours as you wish!
Green beans are low in protein so its good to combine them with some rich protein sources such as almonds or tempeh, although you may blow your budget on these hence here is a cheaper tasty combo:-

Chickpea and Green Bean Panisse

Panisse is a traditional Italian recipe made from chickpea flour cooked and set aside to solidify,in the similiar way to polenta. Chickpea flour is 22% protein and is so 'vegan versatile'. Again, because of Ramadan its worth checking out your local Asian supermarket for offers on gram flour (the indian chickpea flour that is slightly coarser than italian flours but does the trick)

1. Heat a saucepan with a drizzle of oil and place in your green beans finely chopped and some chives,onion tops or garlic.
2. Once the green beans have sweated off add more oil and a cupful of chickpea flour. Stir until the flour mix resembles breadcrumbs and has absorbed all the added oil.
3. Cook the mixture for a further minute and then add water slowely, a bit at a time, until you have a consistency of porridge.
4. Continue cooking and stirring and as the mixture thickens, add more water to return it to a porridge texture. You will need to cook for a further 5 minutes like this to ensure the flour has cooked thoroughly.
5. Take off the heat and pour into a sandwich box or other suitable container and allow to cool and set for 2-3 hours.
6. Once set, slice into strips.
7. Take the strips and bake until crunchy on the outside in an oven at gas mark 6, about 20 mins. Alternatively, cook on a griddle or in a lightly oiled frying pan until crispy on the outside.
8. Serve with salad,veg or a passata sauce (as pictured) as a main meal or enjoy as a snack.

Hopefully more green beans to come and maybe some figs too soon!

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