No need to adjust your sunglasses — those really are purple “green” beans at the Scharko Farms booth at Fairburn Farmers Market. And yellow ones, too.
Yellow, or “wax,” snap beans are fairly common, but the purple ones are still a novelty for most folks. Linda and Tony Scharko grow purple, yellow and several varieties of truly green beans at their farm in Fairburn.
They grew their first purple beans — a cultivar called Royal Burgundy bush beans — three or four years ago, Linda Scharko said. “I started out originally because they were pretty,” she said. The Royal Burgundy plant has magenta blossoms, deep red stems and green leaves.
“I saw it in the Johnny’s seed catalog, and it had the pretty pink blossoms. But then once we grew it and cooked it ourselves, it’s a tasty and tender bean, and it’s pretty in the fields, so it’s a win-win,” she said.
Sadly, the purple beans turn to a deep (but still pretty) green when cooked. If you boil them with a pinch of baking soda, you may be able to retain the color, but I would rather lightly steam or sauté them and eat them green, myself.
The Scharkos’ crop of purple beans is on its way out, Scharko said, but they’ll have another batch come in soon. And in the meantime, they’ll bring other varieties — and colors — of beans to market.
“I know we will have some snap beans all through the summer,” Scharko said — weather permitting.
You can find Royal Burgundy, wax and other snap beans at the Scharko Farms booths at Fairburn Farmers Market (8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, in the Fairburn Educational Campus parking lot on West Broad Street, and at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market (4-8 p.m. Thursdays, 1231 Glenwood Ave., Atlanta). Several other farmers grow them as well, so check out your nearest outdoor farmers market.
At local farmers markets
Arugula, beans, beets, blackberries, blueberries, bok choy, cabbage, carrots, chicory, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, green beans, garlic, greens, herbs, Italian dandelion, kale, kohlrabi, lambsquarters, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, peaches, peppers, green plums, potatoes, raspberries, summer squash, Swiss chard, turnips, tomatoes, zucchini
From farther afield
Looking good: California apricots, Washington and Peruvian asparagus, Georgia and North Carolina beans, Guatemalan and Southeastern blackberries, Georgia and New Jersey blueberries, California broccoli, California and Texas cabbage, Georgia cantaloupe, California carrots, California and Georgia corn and eggplant, California grapefruit, California and South Carolina greens, Arizona honeydew, Chilean kiwifruit, Florida okra, California oranges, South Carolina summer squash, South Carolina and Florida tomatoes, Florida and Georgia watermelon
Coming in: Washington apricots, Virginia beans and cabbage, Washington cherries, North Carolina eggplant and peppers, Virginia summer squash, Arkansas tomatoes, Texas and South Carolina watermelon
Variable quality: California artichokes, Guatemalan beans, California blackberries, Mexican carrots, California cherries, Virginia corn, Guatemalan and California peas, Mexican radishes, California raspberries, Oregon rhubarb, California strawberries, Mexican watermelon
From local news, the Packer
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Green Bean, Potato and Fennel Salad
Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Serves: 8
Lightly dressed with lemon juice and a little olive oil, this salad is hearty yet refreshing. If you can get some Decimal Place Farms lavender-fennel chevre, sold on a limited basis at East Atlanta Village Farmers Market (see information above), try substituting it for the blue cheese. Heavenly!
1½ pounds fingerling or baby potatoes
1 pound green beans (or any color or combination of snap beans), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
A few drops honey
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fennel leaves
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat blue cheese
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook until just fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes (depending on size). Steam the beans in a basket above the potatoes or over a separate pot of boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Plunge beans and potatoes into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain. Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces.
In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, honey and garlic. Add a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the fennel, cooled potatoes and green beans and toss to combine. Adjust seasonings. Sprinkle with the fennel leaves and blue cheese.
Per serving: 121 calories (percent of calories from fat, 19), 4 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 3 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 3 milligrams cholesterol, 82 milligrams sodium.
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