Refrigerator Dilly Beans!

Well, hello. It's been awhile. I've been busy working, and a good friend from college came to visit me all the way from Vermont. We went camping on the Oregon coast, and although we were only gone for a night, something magical happened while we were away. My bean plants exploded beans!

I also got the first zucchini of the season. There are now three little baby squash on my yellow squash plant, and my half dead tomato plants are coming to life!

before

after

If you notice on the left, the plants have an almost purple hue to them. I think they had phosphorus deficiency. I've been watering them and fertilizing them with a fertilizer both high in nitrogen and phosphorus, and they are doing great!

I've been eating lots of beans for the past four days, and I'm kicking myself for not documenting some of the recipes. Most of them were delicious, so I'm sure I'll make them again.

For now though, here is a super easy and fast recipe for dilly beans. It makes two pint jars, which I think is a good amount for refrigerator pickles. Embarrassingly, and especially when it's hot, I can eat a whole jar myself in just a few days. I think dilly beans are my favorite, straight out of the jar pickle, and I'm pretty sure they will be yours if you give these guys a try.

purple beans: royal burgundy

Here are my beans before I blanched them. I felt compelled to share a pic in this state so you can see the purple beans! Unfortunately, the purple ones turn green after they've been cooked/blanched, but they're still kinda fun nonetheless.

DILLY BEANS
Makes 2 pint size jars

1 cup water
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt (kosher is best so it doesn't get cloudy in your jar)
3 cloves of garlic, minced

pretty spanish roja garlic

Boil the above ingredients, and cool to room temperature. Then blanch 2 large handfuls of green beans, and place them in an ice bath. 

In each jar place:
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp pickling spice
1 dried cayenne pepper (I still had some left from last season, but red pepper flakes work, too)
1/4 medium onion very thinly sliced
Several sprigs of dill 

Then fill your jars with the blanched beans.  Once the brine is cool, pour over the beans leaving 1/2 inch from the top, and place in the refrigerator. Your dilly beans will be ready to eat in two days, and likely gone two days after that. :)