Forget Pesto Pasta and Bring on the Pesto Green Beans!

Pesto pasta used to be near the top of my go-to dinner list. Since giving up pasta in my quest for low carbness and the accompanying blood-sugar serenity, I have cast about for substitutes. Green beans! Who would have thought?
Pesto green beans are a super good way to enjoy the seasonal treat now in abundance. 

Ok. In my last post,  I got so carried away with the greatness of our green bean crop, that I accidentally published the post before it was finished and neglected to include the promised recipe, a failure which was pointed out to me by a reader. It is good to have a reader.
Now, in the leisure of correcting my error, I can include not one but two great green bean recipes. Lord knows I need them as I spent an hour in the garden this morning picking yet another eight pounds of beans. The refrigerator bulges with beans, chard, blackberries, cucumbers, and enough zucchini to compel zucchini averse-neighbors to block entry to their porches during the night.

Eight pounds. Every two days. Never had such a bean crop. Blue Lake and Malibu varieties.

Pesto Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh green beans, a generous handful per person
Prepared pesto, preferably without cheese added
Cherry tomatoes, halved, to taste
Shaved or shredded fresh Parmesan cheese to taste, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes, optional

Directions
Rinse and drain the beans. Remove the stem ends and cut beans into 2-3 inch lengths. Place in a nonstick skillet and cover with water. Cover and boil gently for about 7 minutes. You want the beans to be tender/crisp. There's a moment when the flavor comes through and the beans are tender, but still bright green and toothsome.
Stir in prepared pesto. I make my own, most of which I freeze, and I leave out the cheese until I use the pesto. Costco sells decent pesto, if you don't feel like making it. Commercial pesto already has cheese, though, so be careful to just stir it in to heat but not cook.
If you're using non cheese pesto, sprinkle shaved or shredded Parmesan on top and arrange cherry tomato halves on top.

Pickled Dilly Green Beans with Garlic and Red Peppers

Truth be told, I processed this batch in the pressure cooker. The texture isn't nearly as crisp as when done in a boiling water bath, and I will leave the pressure cooker in storage for the next batch. That would be tomorrow's batch.

Ingredients

3 pounds fresh green beans

2.5 cups white vinegar, at least 5 percent acidity - buy the pickling kind

2.5 cups water

4 tablespoons pickling salt, which means non iodized and minimal additives

5-10 medium cloves garlic (I use two per jar) 

1 teaspoon dill seed per pint jar

1 teaspoon mustard seed per pint jar

1 teaspoon red chili flakes per pint jar, OR one fresh or dried serrano or cayenne pepper per jar

Directions

1. Get your boiling water bath canner ready and sterilize five regular-mouth pint jars.
2. I wash the jars in hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly, then place into a 250 degree oven.  I remove jars from the oven one by one as I fill them, then place immediately into the waiting water bath pot filled with enough water to cover the jars.
3. Combine the vinegar, water, and salt and bring to boil to dissolve salt. Keep hot.
4. Place lids in a small saucepan to simmer.
5. Clean the beans and trim so that they'll fit into the sterilized jars.
6. Place the garlic, dill, pepper flakes or peppers and mustard seeds into the jars first. Then pack tightly with upright trimmed beans.
7. Cover beans with hot vinegar/water/salt mixture. You should have about a half inch of headspace
8. Place lids and screw bands on jars and settle carefully into boiling water bath. Jar lifters highly recommended!
9. Cover and process for 10 minutes

1. 

   Clearly out of control beans.