You’ll find them in Japanese and Asian restaurants where they are usually served salted and at room temperature. Typically, you eat the beans inside and discard the pods. Check your grocery or specialty foods store – they can sometimes be found in the frozen foods aisle.

In Chinese, young soybeans in the pod are known as maodoujia which literally translates as “hairy bean pod.” No matter what you call them, they are a specific species of soybean grown for early harvesting and are different than soybean crops grown specifically for their mature beans.

Cook them by steaming or boiling for 3 to 5 minutes. Don’t overcook – you don’t want a bunch of mush.

We are used to seeing edamame served salted at Japanese restaurants but edamame without salt is equally delicious.

Edamame calories are high in protein, fiber and potassium. According to http://www.soygrowers.com, soy beans are the world’s foremost provider of protein and oil.

Edamame in the Shell © Seapoint Farms

10. “Healthy” is the first word that should come to mind with edamame – they are a low-fat, low-cholesterol, and high-protein food.  What more can you ask for: easy preparation, super taste and high nutrition value?
9. Look for bags of frozen edamame in your local specialty food or health food store.
8. Edamame are popular in Japan and China but are catching on in the US – you will find them served as appetizers in Japanese and Chinese restaurants.
7. Worried about edamame calories?  You shouldn’t be.  There are only 125 calories per 100 grams.
6. Farmers in Kentucky and other states are now growing edamame.  The USDA has an interesting web page discussing US growing of edamame.
5. US products include those by Woodstock Farms, Trader Joe’s and Seapoint Farms.  You can buy Seapoint Farms products online from Amazon.
4. Grow your own edamame!  Buy seeds from Wannamaker Farms or other vendors online (See the “Grow Your Own” section below).  You can grow edamame just about anywhere in the US.
3. Edamame nutrion equals soy foods nutrition since they are made from the same thing.  There is a great facts sheet at soyfoods.org which discusses all aspects of soy-related nutrition issues.
2. Sprinkle the edamame with lemon juice after cooking or add soy sauce/tamari to the water when cooking to subtly enhance their flavor.
1. Edamame, maodoujia, vegetable soybeans, beer beans, sweet beans,  garden soybeans, green soybeans, immature soybeans, edible soybeans – they are all the same thing.

Edamame: 60 Tempting Recipes Featuring America’s Hottest New Vegetable – “These tasty beans are highlighted in 60 mouthwatering recipes. Whet your taste buds with Grilled Tomatoes with Edamame and Goat Cheese, Flank Steak with Jeweled Salsa, Balsamic Glazed Winter Vegetables, or Warm Scallop and Edamame Salad. Not just delicious, these recipes are packed with nutrients. But health benefits are just a bonus because the recipes are ones that any chef would be proud to serve his diners. No bland health food here but instead rich appetizers like guacamole and creamy soups such as Thai Seafood Bisque. Although the market has many cookbooks, this is the first to focus completely on Edamame-America’s Hottest New Vegetable.”

Soy of Cooking: Easy-to-Make Vegetarian, Low-Fat, Fat-Free, and Antioxidant-Rich Gourmet Recipes – “Soy of Cooking Now, you can create elegant meals that are as healthy as they are delicious. Soy of Cooking is a gourmet guide to preparing savory meatless dishes that incorporate nutrient-rich soyfoods into your diet—high in antioxidants and phytochemicals, as well as fiber and vitamins. With more than 170 enticing recipes, this innovative cookbook shows how to combine creative techniques and easy-to-find soyfoods to make healthy starters, main dishes, desserts, and more with tempting, artful presentations. Soy of Cooking defines 30 new and traditional soyfoods, most of which can be found in supermarkets and health food stores around the country. It also includes a guide to useful cooking techniques, tips on using spices,and soyfood exchange information.”

A few varieties include: “Envy”, “Besweet 2020″, “Beer Friend”, “Butterbaby”, “Butterbeans”, “Early Hakucho”, “Green Pearls”, “Misono Green”, “Shironomai”, “Tohya”  Seed companies that carry Edamame:  vermontbean.com, johnnyseeds.com, and Wannamaker Farms. Here are some direct links to buy seeds on Amazon.com: Edamame Green Soybean Seeds 50 Seeds at Amazon and Soybeans Edamame Black Seeds 7 Grams at Amazon

Soybean Plants © ARS/USDA

Growing your own healthy low-calorie edamame is easy.  Here is one person’s discussion of growing soy bean plants in flower pots on their deck.  Of interesting note in this blog post: soybeans have small root systems and thus you can plant them close together – in 2 inch spacings.  They put six plants in a large flower pot – lots of beautiful foliage and lots of edamame pods!

If you often find yourself in coveralls driving a tractor, then you will find the USDA page on growing edamame as a row crop more informative.

Finally, you will find this article at the National Garden Bureau web site to be most informative: history, seed varieties, growing and harvesting are all covered.

© Courtesy of California Avocado Commission.

10. The avocado once had a well-entrenched reputation for inducing sexual prowess. Avocados were not bought or eaten by any person wanting to keep their good name.
9. Fallbrook, California is the Avocado Capital of the World.
8. September 16th is National Guacamole Day.
7. The annual California Avocado Festival attracts 100,000 visitors to southern California every October.
6. Avocado is the only fruit color to define a generation.
5. The most common recipe for the avocado is some type of guacamole. During Super Bowl Sunday, in the US, about 50 million pounds of avocados are consumed.
4. All Hass avocados trees are grafted from one original Hass discovered by Rudolph Hass in the early 20th century.
3. Avocado calories have the highest protein content of any fruit.
2. The avocado tree is used as a warehouse; avocados can be kept on the tree for months after reaching maturity. They only soften when picked.
1. Avocados are a nutrient booster – Avocados act as a “nutrient booster” by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha- and beta-carotene as well as lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit.

Absolutely Avocado – “Take your taste buds beyond the ordinary with more than 50 recipes featuring the buttery smoothness of this favorite fruit. Soothe your palate with the delicate flavors of Avocado Crab Puffs. Warm up a cold winter’s night with Avocado and Almond Soup or impress your friends with your zesty Guacamole with Attitude. 24 color photos.”

Guac Off! – A humorous look at the avocado while presenting irresistible recipes. Every review has given it 5 out of 5 stars! “With 30 recipes for classic exotic and extreme guacamoles there is a guac to suit every occasion from the green chile-enhanced Brooktown Classic to the ultra-spicy Scarface Guac.”

Avocado varieties, known to botanists as “cultivars,” are created by grafting branches from an original “mother tree” onto rootstock. The seeds from a given tree will not produce trees with fruit of the same quality and characteristics.

Avocados from different varieties vary in overall size, while avocados are long and skinny, others are much more round. Different varieties also ripen at different times of the year so we can enjoy avocados year round. Skin color also varies – from a somewhat smooth green skin to a very rough, bumpy dark green/black.

Hass avocados are probably the best known here in the US – it produces fruit all year long and accounts for over 80 percent of the worldwide commercial product and over 95% of what is grown in California.

© Courtesy of California Avocado Commission.

Other named varieties include Anaheim, Bacon, Creamhart, Duke, Fuerte, Ganter, Gwen, Hass, Jim, Lula, Lyon, Mexicola, Mexicola Grande, Murrieta Green, Nabal, Pinkerton, Queen, Puebla, Reed, Rincon, Ryan, Spinks, Topa Topa, Whitsell, Wurtz, Zutano. Over 1000 named varieties are known, but only a small number are grown commercially.

Here is a brief primer at Gardenweb.com with questions and answers. They say it takes between 3 and 4 years before a tree will “begin setting fruit.” Note that the growers at the Avocado Growers Association suggest it could take much longer.

Buy a 5-year old avocado tree from Clifton’s Nursery for $69 at Amazon.com. According to avocado.org, it takes 7 to 15 years for an avocado tree to begin producing fruit. We found Zutano and Bacon varieties.

The Avocado Growers Association has the best concise directions for growing an avocado from seed.

Finally, a discussion with video of one person’s experiments with growing avocados from seed.

Avocado.org has almost 200 videos, many are discussions with growers or watch this video on cutting an avocado.