Our little market had something I hadn’t yet seen in the few years we’ve lived here: fresh cranberry beans. I had never cooked fresh beans before, so I was excited to get my first chance. And cranberry beans are just screaming to be made into a blog post since they’re so pretty and quite photogenic.
Fresh Cranberry Beans with Oregano and Lemon
- 1 pound fresh cranberry beans
- 1 well-packed tablespoon fresh oregano
- zest of half a lemon
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
- Start by shelling the beans. (1 pound yielded about 1 1/2 cups shelled beans.)
- Put the beans in a medium-sized saucepan. Fill with enough water to cover the beans by an inch. Cover and heat over high heat until boiling. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30 minutes — until beans are soft.
- Drain the beans, then toss with the oregano, lemon zest, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately.
Serves 1-2
Despite the fact that I just instructed you to “serve immediately,” after further testing is has been confirmed that the beans are quite good chilled as well.
*********************************************************************
Now onto the announcement. We have a new blogger! My sister, Larissa, asked if she could contribute recipes. You might recall her from the carrot cake recipe. Like me, Larissa does not require a gluten-free diet. However, our grandma has Celiac disease so she does gluten-free baking from time to time. She also just likes to cook. I figured the more recipes the merrier. I look forward to seeing what she whips up and I hope you do too. :D
I’ve never seen cranberry beans. How pretty!
Welcome, Larissa! I’m looking forward to seeing what you whip up, too!
Debbi
Thanks Debbi! I’m very excited and cannot wait to share a few recipes.