My daughter and I have a new favourite treat…..dilled beans!  They are crunchy, flavourful and next to no calories.  While my stash of garden grown green beans has now been depleted for quite some time, I was happy to pick up a bulk package of lovely green beans at my local Costco.  After enjoying them freshly sautéed for a couple of dinners this past week I was still left with quite a bundle.  Not wanting to waste, I thought I'd make another batch of these tasty treats!

First step: Wash beans and trim the ends.  Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil.  Blanch beans…30 seconds to one minute, drain and rinse with cold water to halt the cooking process.

Prepare brine: 1 cup of white vinegar to 1 cup of water, add salt and sugar, bring to a boil.  Let cool.

To sterilized glass jars, add sprigs of dill, a clove or 2 of garlic and a red chill pepper.  Once beans are cool enough to handle, stack them vertically into the jars….as many as you can stuff in!

Pour brine into each jar covering the beans and then once cooled, they can be refrigerated.  Let them sit  in the fridge for a couple of days….and then they are ready for snacking!

Preserving is really is prairie tradition… even in the middle of a frigid winter!!