Friday, May 28, 2010

Rattlesnakes for lunch -- beans, that is

You might recall that last summer we grew rattlesnake beans in the garden. I read that they make excellent green beans, as well as dried beans. So, last summer we enjoyed plenty of fresh green bean dishes, and once the beans started getting stringy and tough, we just ignored them until November when we picked them, shelled them, and let them dry.

On first glance, you might think they're pintos, but they're not. Pintos have a lighter background and are smaller. Once these are cooked, they are the size and color of a cooked kidney bean, although the texture is somewhere between a kidney and a pinto bean. They're not as soft as a pinto bean, but not as firm as a kidney bean.

Yesterday I decided to make chili for lunch, and we used the rattlesnake beans instead of pintos or kidney beans. Everyone loved them, and I told Mike we need to plant a lot more this year!

For more on last year's green beans, you can check out this post.

3 comments:

Chef E said...

WOW! I did not know that, we ate pintos growing up, so I am going to look for these, what a great post, going over to read the other now!

Lilac Cottage Homestead said...

I grow dry beans too. Last year It was Kidney beans and this years we are trying a Heirloom called Butterscotch. These beans are from the 1860's, and were grew in Vermont for making bake beans. I can't wait to make my own bake beans useing them. I might have to try some rattle snakes too.

LindaG said...

I need to try and eat more beans. My parents didn't eat beans. I never liked them, but I'm trying to include them in meals now. :)
I do like green beans, so I might try looking for these rattlesnake beans.

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