Magic beans

There is a reason why beans feature so prominently in fairytales. They are profound and elemental... plant a bean in the ground, give it sun and rain and what do you get.... more beans. They are also a fairly early crop to be so very rich in flavor and nutrition. They could be eaten fresh off the plant or dried for winter storage. In many languages beans are referred to as poor man's beef. The mythology is lovely and deserved and as I prepare a meal of beans I like to remember the thousands of years of cultures who ate simply and lived close to the earth not by choice but as a means of survival and ritual. I  find very little need to embellish something as pure as a batch of green beans. We like a quick simple saute of green beans in butter with a clove of crushed garlic. A sprinkle of coarse salt, a few flecks of crushed red pepper and a squeeze of lime juice at the very end. The eating and talk of magic beans around the dinner table is lovely but the half hour spent on the porch with my little one sharing a glass of ice tea and quietly snapping beans together is truly magical.