Jack's Magic Beans

 

Last weekend I got to stop by Milk Pail Market, the produce stand that I used to frequent while in graduate school, and honestly the one place that I miss the most since moving! I am like a kid in a candy store at Milk Pail, and always end up buying way more produce than I need. They always seem to have something that I have never tried before. This time, it was these gorgeous purple beans--basically green beans, but purple!

I decided that I had to give them a shot. I mean, they say that each meal should include every color of the rainbow, but the blue/purple part is always so difficult to find. I was pretty excited to create a new purple side dish. I tried my super simple Chinese-style green beans recipe (quick saute of beans, soy sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and lots of garlic). Much to my dismay, the purple beans turned green when I cooked them, and didn't really end up looking any different from my usual green beans side. However, the process of cooking them and watching the purple slowly fade away was really fun!

The purple beans are a bit chewier and not as flavorful as green beans, so I think in the future I will just stick to the green...