I find the best way to cook fresh peas and beans is in a steamer.

Last year, I purchased a stainless steel 3 qt. steamer from Farberware. It gets a lot of use. Notice also that veggies cook a lot faster in steam - but don't know why. Maybe Ken or someone wiser than I can answer that one.

Bejay

A little salt in the water usually helps, OR, a bit of lemon juice will help too.

Frozen peas retain their color because they're blanched in water or steamed briefly then plunged into a large amount of ice water or very cold water to stop the cooking process.

Carol

I don't mean to be undiplomatic, but if you don't want to lose the color in vegetables when you cook them..don't overcook them!

Sugar snap peas are at their best when they're crunchy. If they've gone the color of canned peas, they've been overcooked.

A green vegetable that turns olive green upon cooking has been overcooked...the exception being Southern style greens cooked with bacon...even those, I prefer not cooked into olive green mush.

I am a cooking show addict. I often see TV chefs use the "shock" method for green vegies and I have used that method successfully many times. If you choose to steam or boil; barely cook them and then dunk them in to a bowl full of ice and cold water. This will "set" the color. It really does work for most green things. You can then toss them with butter or whatever dressing you wish.

You could also try lightly tossing them in a bit of oil in the pan for a minute or two, then serving (without boiling first). Over cooking is the death of sugar snaps. Treat them like you are trying to cook an extremely bloody, still mooing, rare steak.

NO, lemon juice will actually 'bleach out' the color. When the green is gone, its usually from overcooking. I don't steam veggies, unless you consider the water they contain which is heated to boiling in the microwave. I cook all my veggies, either fresh or frozen in the microwave in a covered dish. This includes carrots, pes, beans, broccoli and most anything else I enjoy. If your freezing these, they do recommend that you blanch them as tha will help hold the nice green color. I dislike the pale color of canned peas, so I grow my own, blanch and freeze them. When I want some cooked, I just pour them into a covered corningware dish and nuke them a couple of minutes. I do sprinkle a bit of salt on them just prior to cooking in the microwave. Snow peas are very difficult to keep them crisp. I grew them, and if I blanched and froze them, they would turn mushy once they were cooked even for a very short time. Thats one reason they are so expensive in stores is because they do not keep well, or hold up to freezing. They do sell frozen ones, but these are just too soft and have no crunch in a stir fry, compared to fresh. I used to see a guy in the local Chinese resturant pulling off the tops of a big pail of them all day long. Blanching is actally the same as athe 'shock' method. You dip in boiling water a minute or two, then into ice water. Fresh salads are great with snow peas.

I'm a great fan of brief cooking (boiling or steaming) and plunging in a bowl of ice and water. It works.

BUT ... has anyone used this technique to prevent pickled green beans from losing their color. Would it be safe to steam, plunge in ice, cold pack, add pickling brine and spices and then process. Would the beans keep the colour?
kay

I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be safe. Initially there'd be a bright green color, but I'm guessing the heat of processing would turn the beans the customary "olive drab."

The problem is that 7 minutes is the maximum time these green vegetables can be exposed to heat before the color changes. The cell walls break down exposing the chlorophyll to natural acids in the produce, causing the dulling.

Not to mention since the beans have been pre-cooked, there'd probably be additional softening/loss of texture.

Pure speculation, but I doubt there'd be a benefit.

Carol

Because of the salt and vinegar used, pickled beans will lose the bright green color you see as frozen or fresh (blanched). Blanching them and then pickling will still make them get pale. Its the HEAT that changes the color, and that can't be avoided when the processing is done. There is no easy way to keep the color unless you pickle some yellow waxed beans, which will remain yellow. I pickled some purple string beans once, and after they sat a few weeks in the jars, they turned green color as they should after cooking. Interesting thing was the purple color sank to the bottom of the jars, and if you shook them, you could see that purple color mix in with the brine again. The jars were cold packed with the beans, and then a boiling brine was poured in. Once capped, they were BWB processed. Vinegar storage does soften them too, and it could be that you could add a bit of the Pickle Crisp just as you would for pickling cukes, to help slow down that process a little. I do know that when I microwave the frozen peas and beans, that bright green color stays there, unless they are overcooked, and sit a while.

reading labels, I note that commercial gherkins list a yellow die. Much as I dislike using additives, I'm wondering if that'd result in a greener color for beans in a cold pack-- or would I still have pale, limp beans.
Kay

I made a batch of finely chopped cucumbers into a relish. Most of the commercial sweet pickle relishes are very green color. Mine was a bit pale, so I did add some green food coloring to it just to give it a bit more color. Yellow in pickles is usually Tumeric. I don't find tumeric very flavorful, but some people detest it. A cold pack would still need heat to process them, unless this was something that was to be stored in the fridge all the time. As mentioned, ANY heat involved in canning a pickle will break down the color. Even for that, my refrigerator salt brine pickles also lose some of that bright green color of the cukes. Not as much as a canned one though. Thats why many recipes call for a little tumeric to help boost the color a little.

While watching a Filipino cooking show on TV one midweek morning at the same time while washing dishes, I'm uncertain but I thought I overheard the Filipino chef suggested adding a teaspoon of baking soda while boiling /blanching some vegetables and immediately dipping them into ice water to preserve the colors. With the noise caused by running water, did I hear it right? Baking Soda? If so, how much? Based on volume/weight? I will be revisiting your site for your answers, please. Thank you.