The sprouted beans in your share today are a mix of red, green and black lentils; adzuki; fenugreek; and mung. The beans sprout easily in the headhouse and pack a lot of nutritional punch into a small package. If you haven't already read it, Wikipedia gives a good rundown on the nutritional benefits of bean sprouts. These are perfect as a snack; tossed into a salad; garnish for soup or chili; or used in a stir-fry. It's hard to find nutritional information about the effects of cooking sprouted beans. However, most likely, the heat would kill some or all of the beneficial enzymes in the sprouts. Keep sprouts refrigerated and rinse and drain just before use.

Though in the same family as dry beans, snaps trade starch and protein for more vitamins A and C. Snap beans are also known as string beans. Up until American botanists figured out how to breed out the tough string that ran along the sides, one always had to remove the strings when preparing beans. You may find purple and/or green snaps in your bag this week. Both taste just about the same. And, if you cook the purples thoroughly, they will turn green as well. Refrigerate beans unwashed in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer. Snap or snip off ends of beans before cooking.

Store unwashed pods in the fridge. Wash in cold water just before using.

The edamame (soy beans) in your bag are still attached to the stalks. Some of the pods have turned a bit yellow. We think that this is from the cold we've been having. They should still be very good eating, though. To prepare, remove the pods from the stalks. You can do like the Japanese and steam the edamame for about 10 minutes, pod and all, drain well, toss with coarse sea salt and serve. When eating edamame still in the pod, you will want to scrape out the tender beans using your teeth. Enjoy the beans and compost the leftover pods. Store these in the fridge in a sealed bag (i.e. Ziploc) if possible. Boil briefly and eat as described above or shell them and add to other dishes and the like.