Bean Recipes

[OakLeaf]

Oh goodness. The curried cream of lentil and vegetable soup I posted under Soft Foods. Lorna Sass's adzuki and winter squash stew with ginger and shiitakes. Blackeyed pea and quinoa salad (diced raw onion, celery, carrot and green pepper, tossed with homemade vinaigrette, served on a bed of lettuce). Anything at all with chickpeas: hummus, falafel (amazingly easy to make if you've never tried it), channa masala, pasta e fagioli, tonno e ceci. I love chickpeas! Tempeh and veggies in Thai red curry sauce (tempeh counts, eh?). Cuban-style black beans with oranges and kale. Southern-style pinto beans, greens and cornbread.

You're making me hungry!

[Eden]

mmmmmm chickpeas and lentils
I made this recipe once (I turned it back to vegetarian by leaving out the chicken and quickened it up by using canned chickpeas) It is super yummy. I think I'm going to need to make this for dinner!
Its from www.epicurious.com
(Moroccan Chicken, Chick-Pea, and Lentil Soup)

A marvelous vegetarian harira sampled at the United Nations' Delegates Dining Room--prepared by chef Mohamed Boussaoud, from the hotel La Mamounia in Marrakech--provided the inspiration for the following chicken-based version. In Morocco this soup is often made with lamb as well as chicken and is traditionally served after sundown during the month of Ramadan to break each day's fast.

Servings: Makes about 12 cups.

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Ingredients

1 whole chicken breast, halved
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
a 28-to 32-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and puréed coarse
1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 cups cooked dried chick-peas (recipe follows), or a 19-ounce can, rinsed
1/2 cup raw long-grain rice
1/2 cup lentils
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preparation

In a heavy kettle (at least 5 quarts) simmer chicken in broth and water 17 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is just cooked through, and transfer chicken with a slotted spoon to a cutting board. Add to kettle tomatoes, saffron, onions, chick-peas, rice, and lentils and simmer, covered, 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Shred chicken, discarding skin and bones, and stir into soup with salt and pepper to taste. Soup may be prepared 4 days ahead (cool uncovered before chilling covered).

add the parsley and cilantro just before serving.

In a bowl soak chick-peas in water to cover by 2 inches overnight or quick-soak (procedure follows) and drain.

To Cook Dried Chickpeas:
In a saucepan combine drained chick-peas and water to cover by 2 inches and simmer, covered partially, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Drain chick-peas.

To make 2 cups cooked chick-peas begin with a scant cup dried.

Just before serving, stir in coriander and parsley.

To Quick-Soak Dried Beans
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

In a large saucepan combine dried beans, picked over and rinsed, with triple their volume of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and cook beans, uncovered, over moderate heat 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let beans soak 1 hour.

[EBD]

On the "lazy" side . . .

I love white bean hummus - canned cannelini beans whizzed in the food processor with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and a touch of cayenne.

I also love to make a meal of black bean soup by floating a poached egg on top, topped with hot sauce or salsa. I use Amy's Organics canned low-fat black bean soup, but I'm sure it'd be good with homemade!

[OakLeaf]

Or for something a little different, what I made the other night:

Adzuki bean-squash stew with shiitakes and ginger, adapted from Lorna Sass

1 small onion, chopped
Sesame oil
1 cup adzuki beans, picked over, soaked, drained and rinsed
8-12 shiitake mushrooms, fresh and sliced into 1/4" strips, or dried
Fresh ginger root - a lot - finely minced, to yield 3-6 tbsp minced
1 small butternut or kabocha squash (1-1/2 lbs approx)
1 bunch scallions, sliced (green and white parts)
Soy sauce to taste (unpasteurized Nama Shoyu is well worth the price for the delicious flavor)
Toasted sesame, pumpkin or squash seeds

If using dried mushrooms, boil water and soak the mushrooms at least 10 minutes in 1 cup hot water. Drain them - reserving the soaking water but being careful not to pour off any sand or sediment - and slice the mushrooms into 1/4" strips.

Scrub squash, cut in half to scoop out seeds and seed pulp, cut away any woody parts of the stem and blossom end, and cut into generous chunks (roughly 1" cubes or larger). If squash is organic, peeling is not necessary. If not organic, peel before chopping.

Saute onion in 4-6 qt pressure cooker in at least 1 tbsp sesame oil (necessary to prevent beans foaming and plugging pressure cooker vent)

Add beans, mushroom soaking water if any, and boiling water to just cover. Stir in mushrooms and ginger. Set squash chunks on top. Lock lid on pressure cooker, bring to high pressure and cook for 5 minutes, then release pressure using a quick-release method. Alternately, you can cook 2-1/2 minutes and then remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure come down naturally (about 10 minutes). The squash will turn to a near puree this way (not a bad thing, just different), but the beans will have a nicer appearance since quick-releasing tends to rupture bean skins.

Open cooker and check that beans are done. If not, replace (but do not lock) the lid and cook conventionally until they are tender. If the mixture is very soupy, you can drain some of the liquid at this point, but it will become thicker once you stir.

Stir in scallions and soy sauce. While stirring, if the squash is still chunky, break up some of the chunks and stir them in to thicken the stew.

Serve immediately with (or over) rice, garnished with a generous amount of toasted seeds.

[Pedal Wench]

Big pot o' goodness:

Either a big bag of frozen lima beans or soaked-overnight beans, cooked with an onion in chicken or veggie broth. After the beans soften a bit, add two bags of shredded cabbage and a big bag of shredded kale. Cook down until soup is thick and the veggies are very, very soft. Sometimes I add sliced mushrooms and barley for texture. Might have to make this one again soon - my frozen supply is almost gone.

[surgtech1956]

Pedal Wench --- Your recipe sounds good. Do you make it with any other kinds of beans or just lima beans? Thanks

[bikerz]

I made up something the other night that turned out to be pretty good.

2 cups of cannellini beans soaked overnight then pressure-cooked. Meanwhile, sauteed an onion and 6 cloves garlic in olive oil, added about 1 Tbs minced fresh sage and about 1 tsp dried oregano. Added the cooked beans, checked salt, added lots of fresh ground black pepper, and let the flavors mingle for about 10 minutes. Then added a bag of washed baby spinach, and stirred it up over low heat until the spinach got a little wilted. Served with polenta and some grated Parmesan, and a light drizzle of special olive oil over the beans/spinach. It was delicious, and a complete protein, I believe. Even better the next day (and the day after) as leftovers.

Sometimes my experiments don't turn out that well , but this one is a keeper.

[Pedal Wench]

Pedal Wench --- Your recipe sounds good. Do you make it with any other kinds of beans or just lima beans? Thanks

I'll add split peas too -- they quickly thicken it up. Its really quite thick.

I've used similar ingredients to make a tomato-based soup too that I use mixed beans. Soak kidney, white and pinto beans overnight. Drain, then add onion, garlic, chicken stock, chopped tomatoes and simmer. Add two bags of shredded cabbage and one of shredded kale and cook away. Sometimes, I'll add chili spice to this to make a veggie chili kinda thing.