How long to cook green beans?

Green beans or asparagus beans are a healthy and tasty product, but if cooked incorrectly, both of these properties can be minimized. The ideal option to preserve nutrients is to boil. The main questions that an inexperienced cook faces are what is the difference between green beans and asparagus beans and how long to cook green beans.

String beans are eaten whole. Asparagus beans are one of the varieties of green beans, therefore they are similar in color and visually, but have a more delicate texture. It owes its name to a taste reminiscent of asparagus. There are no hard plant fibers in her “shoulder blades”.

The pod variety is eaten only after heat treatment, but the asparagus can also be eaten raw.

Not all beans are suitable for cooking. You should not experiment with the preparation of immature pods of cereal varieties. Delicious dishes are obtained from sugar and semi-sugar (vegetable) varieties. They have delicate shells of pods and small soft grains.

The most delicious will be light green or pale yellow pods of a slightly curved shape. You can check their quality with your fingers: the pods should be tight to the touch and easily break in half. When choosing pods, it will also be correct to focus on the degree of their maturity.For one dish, you should take the same pods. Yellowed pods are not good for food, so they must be thrown away.

No complex manipulations will have to be carried out. In green beans, you first need to remove all the twigs and stems, then rinse the pods thoroughly and break off the hard tips, then remove the vein between the wings with a knife. Remove twigs from asparagus beans, rinse the pods in cold water and cut in half.

Beans are cooked on fire, steamed, in the microwave, in a slow cooker. Cooking time depends on the chosen method and taste preferences.

Please note: young fruits cook faster than mature ones. If mature or large pods are still selected for cooking, then another 2-3 minutes must be added to the recommended time.

If you want to get crispy beans - it takes 5-6 minutes, if you need soft ones - the time increases to 7-8 minutes. To shorten the cooking time, you can cut the vegetable into small pieces.

Cooking technology:

• bring water to a boil (there should be enough water to cover all the beans, you can add more if necessary);
• put the pods in it and salt (about 10 grams of salt will be needed per 1 liter of water);
• cook over low heat, do not stir;
• discard the finished product in a colander;
• “bathe” in cold water, which will keep the bright green color and prevent it from softening too much.

Add your favorite spices, oil - an independent dish is ready.

Cooking on fire is ideal, because during the cooking process you can always taste the product and decide whether to stop or continue cooking. By the way, excess cooked beans can be frozen.

If you want to steam the beans, but there is no special device, then pour half a liter of water into a regular saucepan and boil. Then place a colander with beans on the pan and cover with a lid. In 5-7 minutes, the vegetable will reach readiness.

Cooking in a double boiler will take up to 15 minutes. Put the beans in 1 or 2 layers in the container of the double boiler, pour water into the water compartment in accordance with the instructions for the device.

For microwave cooking, pour hot water into a container intended for microwave cooking, put vegetables, salt and close the lid. The holes in the lid must remain open. Cook at maximum power for one minute. If this time is not enough, run for another half a minute. If the beans were poured with cold water, the time should be increased to 2.5 minutes.

To cook in a slow cooker, pour water into the container, put the beans and start the “soup” mode for 7 minutes. For some models, this mode is called "cooking".

Sometimes the fruits are cooked in a sealed container and in a small amount of salt water. Then the water is not drained, but oil, spices and herbs are added directly to the pan, mixed, transferred to a deep bowl and served like that.

It is not necessary to defrost the product before cooking, but thawed pods cook faster. This is due to the fact that before freezing they were blanched. On fire, they will cook in 4-5 minutes.

Some recipes tell you to skip the defrosting step and drop the frozen pods into boiling water. In this case, you will need to increase the cooking time by 5 minutes.

Canned pods do not need to be boiled - they are already ready to eat, so they can be immediately sent from the can to the finished dish, to a saucepan or to a pan.

This question is relevant for summer residents and gardeners who have grown a rich harvest and plan to save it. Beans are well stored frozen, while retaining most of the useful trace elements. Before freezing, the beans are processed in boiling water (blanching).

First you need to prepare the pods in the same way as before cooking. Then lower into boiling water, and after 2-3 minutes, remove and place on ice. After "hardening" the pods, transfer to a napkin and dry. The next step is packaging in bags for freezing and sending to the freezer.

Beans are a truly unique product. It can be boiled, fried, canned. It has an excellent taste in combination with both salt and sugar. And asparagus beans are both an independent dish, and an excellent side dish, and an ingredient in salads, soups and vegetable dishes.

An independent dish "Beans with an egg" requires the following ingredients:

• green beans - 500 grams;
• eggs - 2 pieces;
• lemon juice - 2 tablespoons;
• pepper, salt - to taste.

Beans can be cooked in any convenient way. Pour some of the broth into a bowl. Beat raw eggs with salt, pepper, lemon juice and the remaining broth. Pour the resulting mixture into a hot frying pan, send the beans here as well. Cook with constant stirring for 1 minute.

For a warm salad of boiled beans and chicken, you will need the following ingredients:

• green beans - ½ kilogram;
• chicken fillet - 250 grams;
• onion - 1 head;
• sweet pepper - 2 pieces;
• water and table vinegar (preferably balsamic) - ¼ cup each;
• salt, spices - to taste;
• vegetable oil - to taste.

The preparation procedure is as follows:

1. Boil the beans until half cooked (when cooking on fire, it will take about 2.5-3 minutes), then recline on a sieve.
2. Fry the chicken fillet cut into small pieces in vegetable oil. After the appearance of a golden crust, put in a separate bowl. Place slices of pepper, onion rings and boiled beans in the same oil for 2-3 minutes.
3. If the chicken has cooled down, it can be heated in a skillet with vegetables.
4. Season the finished dish with a sauce of water and vinegar, sprinkle with a small amount of herbs. It will turn out very beautiful if the salad is sprinkled with sesame seeds on top.

Soup puree from green beans and meat should be appreciated by lovers of dietary dishes. Its ingredients:

• meat broth - 1 liter;
• asparagus beans - 400 grams;
• potatoes - 300 grams;
• grated cheese (can be replaced with processed) - 100 grams;
• meat (any) - 200 grams;
• salt, pepper - to taste.

It is necessary to follow these steps in sequence:

1. Boil until fully cooked meat and vegetables (you can in one pan, just run them into the water in turn).
2. Cut all the ingredients into small pieces and grind in a blender.Mix the resulting mass with hot meat broth and put for 10 minutes on a small fire.
3. Add cheese, spices to hot soup and mix again with a blender.
4. Garnish with herbs before serving.

Vegetable stew with chicken pieces will require the following ingredients:

• chicken fillet - 300 grams;
• asparagus beans - 300 grams;
• tomatoes - 1 large or 2 small fruits;
• onion - 1 head;
• carrots - 1 large or 2 small;
• garlic - 1-2 cloves;
• salt, spices, herbs - to taste.

With the described ingredients, do the following:

1. Prepare all products: wash, cut into pieces.
2. Boil the beans until done in your preferred way. Throw on a sieve.
3. Fry chicken fillet pieces in a small amount of vegetable oil. It is best to use olive oil.
4. When the fillet begins to brown, add onions and carrots to it. Fry for 2-3 more minutes.
5. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a fairly deep stew dish.
6. Chop the tomato, garlic and your favorite greens, mix with the beans and add to the chicken.
7. Put on fire, salt, pepper, pour half a glass of water or broth. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes. The dish will be ready when the vegetables and chicken are soft.

This is not a complete list of dishes from this vegetable, because beans are one of the oldest crops in the world. It was the basis of the diet of the ancient Aztecs and many peoples of South and Central America. Europe is obliged to thank Christopher Columbus for introducing her to this magnificent product. By the way, it is not necessary to cook according to someone else's recipes, because beans are able to "adapt" to your favorite dishes.It can be safely introduced into your favorite vegetable salads, it will not spoil them!

For information on how to quickly and tasty cook green beans, see the following video.