Romano beans: Versatility in its greenest garden form

Fabam vita sunt. Beans are life.

Broad, flat, string-less seams.

Tender, easy-to-cook, and flavorful.

The Romano bean (Italian flat bean), often sold as "snap beans" are a fast-growing and high-yielding crop.

As far as I can remember into my childhood, my parents have been planting and using these beans. We've pickled them, made them into pasta dishes, made them into both warm and cold salads, stewed them, and much more.

Their culinary versatility and yield through the fall had made them a staple of our backyard garden forever. They grow in a climbing fashion and generally once the plant has grown past 6 inches, we begin providing support through a trellis structure (a fancy way of saying, just put some some old bamboo canes in the soil next to them).

Romano bean salad in under 10 steps

It doesn't get much easier than this, honestly. A quick summer salad that pairs well with meat and fish or as a standalone.

Ingredients

Two handfuls of Romano beans

Water

Kosher salt

Olive oil

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Directions

1. Rinse off your beans and remove the stems if they are still intact. Set aside.

2. Bring a roughly two quarts of water and a pinch of Kosher salt to a boil in a pot. (Enough to cover the beans.)

3. Fill a bowl with ice cubes.

4. When the water comes to a boil, place all of your beans in the pot and boil for no more than 3 minutes.

5.Shut off the heat and carefully use a mesh sieve to remove the beans and place them in the ice bowl. This shocks them and prevents further cooking.

6. Once cool, remove beans from bowl and strain excess water.

7. In your serving bowl, finely slice one medium sized garlic clove and add one tablespoon of you preferred olive oil.

8. Add your beans to your serving bowl. Add two pinches of Kosher salt as well as a few grinds from your pepper mill.

9. Toss lightly or use a spoon to mix, and enjoy!