Green Bean Overload

An abundance of Maxibel green beans.
I count at least 17 in this picture alone...

Wow.  And then there were bushels of green beans.  It is truly amazing how much can be produced from a few seeds planted in early summer.  I am literally gathering handfuls of green beans every day now.  This is the first year that I have used drip irrigation (rather than hand watering) and it shows in the bean harvest.  Never before have I been so inundated and it is awesome.  Now I understand why people came up with Dilly Beans - I just never had the volume to preserve before this season.

But what to do with all this bounty?  The easiest thing to do with green beans is steam them and then saute them in butter and lemon juice.  So simple and so tasty.  However, this year I also intend to try grilling them a la DigginFood and to whip up some Frijole Mole as described in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  I must also recreate the dish that was the big hit of last Thanksgiving- garlicky green beans with thyme.  What is even more satisfying about this dish (than the fact that it's delicious) is that I grew the green beans, thyme, lemon and garlic so the only non-MKG ingredients are salt, pepper and olive oil. 

Few things are more satisfying than that.