photo credit:LDOMENICI/flickr.com
You know what that is, right? BEANS!
Beans, beans, wonderful beans. I never cooked with them too often in the past becuase I always found them to be so rough on the digestive system. But, did you know that if you soak them and cook them yourself, the soaking helps dissolve the starches that cause that magical, musical, tummy-ache inducing quality? Oh yes. Also, cooking them yourself is a great way to reduce packaging in your life, spare you from that often BPA-ridden plastic lining, and added sodium AND save money!! Cooked Dried Beans are the cheapest source of protein around, even when you buy organic. Can’t go wrong with that, right?
Beans have become a much larger portion of my diet lately since I’ve started cooking them myself. I waited far too long to start doing this just because I really wasn’t sure how exactly. But since I read some simple instructions and finally just tried it, I’ve realized how easy and, dare I say, convenient it is. A few great recipes helps too.
So, here is the method:
Soak desired amount of dried beans overnight in a large bowl in the refridgerator. The water should come about three inches above the beans. One cup of dried beans will make about 3 cups of cooked beans, so keep that in mind. Rinse soaked beans and then place in a large pot and fill with water – roughly 3 cups water to 1 cup beans. Bring to a boil, cover with lid, leaving it slightly ajar for steam to escape. once the water has come to a boil, reduce to a simmer (if you leave them boiling, they will turn to mush). length of cooking time will depend on what type of bean it is (see below for cooking times).
It is somewhat of a time consuming process, but my dear, it is not a complicated thing, you just have to be home for a couple hours. So, pick a time, any time, when you know you will be home and let a pound or so of them cook away, then store in their cooking liquid in the refridgerator and use them that week. Don’t think you could use a pound in a week? Well, you might be wrong about that. Here are the types of beans, their respective cooking times and suggested ways to use them, or scarf them, up – with some recipe links while I’m at it:
Black beans (turtle beans): 1 1/2 hrs.
- Day 1 – Black Bean Burgers: try these (my fave) or these (scroll down a bit for the recipe)
- Day 2 – Chili, like this one
- Day 3 - Chipotle Veggie Bean Burritos with Creamy Avocado Cashew Cream Sauce
- Day 4 – Mexican Stuffed Peppers
- Day 5 - Black Bean, Corn and Quinoa Salad
- Day 6 – Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Black-eyed peas: 1 hour
- Day 1 – Black Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes
- Day 2 – Cowboy Caviar
- Day 3 – Black Eyed Pea Collard Rolls
- Day 4 – Gumbo
- Day 5 – as a side dish – served with sauteed greens
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): 1 1/2 hours
- Day 1 - Hummus – sandwiches, as an appetizer, whatever. Who doesn’t love hummus? well, my husband, that’s who. but my daughter and i loove it.
- Day 2 - Chickpea Noodle Soup
- Day 3 – Falafel – I am absolutely in love with the falafel from Vegan with a Vengeance, along with the accompanying tahini dressing.
- Day 4 - Chickpea Cutlets – we looove these
- Day 5 - Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
- Day 6 – Chickpea Tacos
White beans (great northern beans): 1 1/2 hours
- Day 1 – Pasta Fagioli
- Day 2 - Tuscan Vegetable Ragout
- Day 3 – Roasted Garlic and White Bean Soup
- Day 4 – White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Patties
- Day 5 – Vegetable Soup with White Beans (Minestrone)
- Day 6 – Moroccan Phyllo Rolls w/Balsamic Maple Sauce
Kidney beans: 1 hour
- Day 1 – Chili, why of course.
- Day 2 – Chipotle Lime 2 Bean Hummus
- Day 3 – Beanballs – beanball sub or spaghetti w/beanballs
- Day 4 – Chili Mac
Pinto beans: 1 1/2 hours (ok, so it’s harder to get a variety of types of dishes out of pinto beans, as they tend to be paired with the same mexican type flavors, but refried beans always make a good snack, I think, kind of like hummus.)
- Day 1 – Tempeh Chili con Frijoles or Chili sin Carne al Mole
- Day 2 – Refried Beans, as a side for these or some other mexican style dish or just a nice dip with chips.
- Day 3 – Mexican-Style “Lasagna” Dish, like this one.
- Day 4 – Tamale Pie
Of course you can always just sit yourself down to a nice plate of rice and beans, or a bean burrito, it’s just nice to know that you don’t have to. oh and don’t be afraid to swap out the beans in a recipe for another kind. usually it’s do-able.
So, now you have no excuse. you know how, you know it will save you money and be good for you (much better than any animal protein and better than canned beans), and so much better for the environment, too. Give it a try, cook up a big ol pot of beans and enjoy some good eats!
