Beans in the cranberry family are fun to eat fresh, as shelling beans. I think they all taste the same and it's not until they're dried that they really come into their own, but every year people love the ritual of shelling the cranberry beans for pasta e fagiolo, salads or just a simple side dish.

I always joke that this is the time of year when my chefs cheat on me. They get pretty excited for a weeks until they realize how little you get per pound of fresh cranberrys and then they cringe when they think of the labor costs. Suddenly it becomes a mere garnish and our phones start ringing again.