Thinking about all the things we've been eating with dried beans lately reminded me of a recipe I've been meaning to post for a while.
This is a nice alternative to your regular pasta dishes - quick, more protein than a normal pasta dish, and indulgently satisfying.
Cook up some bacon (now you know it's going to be good!) - 1/2 lb is probably plenty
Reserve the bacon, and fry a bunch of chopped garlic in the oil (umm, 5-6 cloves, but who's counting)
Add cooked chickpeas (1-2 cans worth, maybe 2-3 cups)
You may want to add a little water - maybe the water from cooking the pasta, if your chickpeas are dry.
Stir in ~1/2-3/4 c chopped toasted almonds.
When everything is hot, spoon it on top of some pasta, and grate some parmesan on top. Delish!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Dried beans
We're officially moving to Madison, WI next year (!!!) and I'm going to try my hand at being mostly a stay-at-home mom. So, with the idea that I'll have a bit more time at home and a lot less money, I decided to try my hand cooking dried beans to replace a few meals of meat a week and instead of canned beans. I know it's pretty silly to get excited about cooking something that has been a staple of diets around the world for millenia, but, well, here I am, getting excited about cooking dried beans.
I've never been a dried bean convert before because 1) I've never been able to get the right mix of water, heat, attention, and time to end up with beans that are uniformly cooked through without half falling apart from being over-done while the other half still has hard kernels at the center. 2) I've always tried to make beans in big pots that yield a lot more beans than I can eat before they go bad in the refrigerator. And 3) the amount of forethought necessary to have dried beans cooked when I want them eludes me.
Enter the slow cooker and the freezer: It turns out that if you put dried beans in a slow cooker, you can get delicious beans cooked very nicely without a lot of effort or attention. And if you then put your cooked beans in the freezer you can keep them for months without them going bad, and have them ready to use, just like canned beans, at a moment's notice. I haven't figured in the energy price, but bean for bean, I estimate that dried beans are about 1/4 the price of canned beans.
The first thing to consider is: to soak or not to soak? And if you soak, do you then cook in the soaking water or use fresh water. Honestly, I can't figure out what the benefit of soaking the beans would be if you're just going to turn around and cook them in the soaking liquid, but maybe I'm missing something. As far as I can tell, it boils down to how much farting bothers you. If you do a traditional soak overnight, apparently you can remove up to 20% of the gas-causing elements of the bean. Unfortunately, apparently this same chemical is one of the things about beans that is good for your colon health (likely, not unrelated to it's tendency to make you fart). Also, apparently if you eat more beans, your body will adjust to them and they'll disturb your gastrointestinal system less and less. So, take your pick. You can find purists of all colors on the internet, so I tend to go with convenience. One middle of the road option is do what's called a fast soak, where you heat water to boiling, then pour it over your beans and soak for 1 hour. I just tend to go with convenience - whatever works for that day. Like, tonight I was going to cook some beans, and I thought I had time for a fast soak. Then I ran out of time, so now they're doing an overnight soak.
I've so far followed a pretty basic recipe, but it's turned out to be delicious every time. I'm looking forward to trying new flavors as I do this more and more. Here's my basic recipe:
1-2 pounds dried black or pinto or red beans, soaked if desired1 medium-large onion/pound of beans, cut into large wedges
4-6 cloves of garlic/pound of beans, crushed
1-3 bay leaves (my bay leaves are old and cracked into smaller pieces, so if you've got fresher or large bay leaves, you may only need 1)
1 T. salt/pound of beans.
Put the beans, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Cover with water to 1 - 1 1/2 inches above the beans. Turn on your slow cooker. I've been cooking mine on high, which takes about 3 hours for black beans that have been fast-soaked. Cooking on slow is supposed to take about 6 hours. About 1/2 hour before the beans are done, stir in the salt, then finish cooking. This weekend I over cooked some pinto beans and some red beans - I think they don't take as long as black beans, and I lost track of time, as always. I think in the future I'm going to turn the heat down to low or just turn it off after I add the salt, to try to prevent over cooking.
After the beans are cooked, I fish out the onion and bay leaf pieces, then drain the beans.
I also made some amazing garbonzo beans. For those, I just put them in the slow cooker with about
4 c of beans.
1/2 t salt
water to cover.
To freeze: spread the beans on a sheet pan in as close to a single layer as you can get. Put the pan in the freezer. When the beans are frozen, store them in a ziploc bag, and use however you would use canned beans.
My kiddos have been going nutzo for the beans I've been making. Suzie has been tooting up a storm as a result, but she seems to think that's pretty funny, so it's all good by me.
Happy rootin'-tootin'-tootalootin'!
I've never been a dried bean convert before because 1) I've never been able to get the right mix of water, heat, attention, and time to end up with beans that are uniformly cooked through without half falling apart from being over-done while the other half still has hard kernels at the center. 2) I've always tried to make beans in big pots that yield a lot more beans than I can eat before they go bad in the refrigerator. And 3) the amount of forethought necessary to have dried beans cooked when I want them eludes me.
Enter the slow cooker and the freezer: It turns out that if you put dried beans in a slow cooker, you can get delicious beans cooked very nicely without a lot of effort or attention. And if you then put your cooked beans in the freezer you can keep them for months without them going bad, and have them ready to use, just like canned beans, at a moment's notice. I haven't figured in the energy price, but bean for bean, I estimate that dried beans are about 1/4 the price of canned beans.
The first thing to consider is: to soak or not to soak? And if you soak, do you then cook in the soaking water or use fresh water. Honestly, I can't figure out what the benefit of soaking the beans would be if you're just going to turn around and cook them in the soaking liquid, but maybe I'm missing something. As far as I can tell, it boils down to how much farting bothers you. If you do a traditional soak overnight, apparently you can remove up to 20% of the gas-causing elements of the bean. Unfortunately, apparently this same chemical is one of the things about beans that is good for your colon health (likely, not unrelated to it's tendency to make you fart). Also, apparently if you eat more beans, your body will adjust to them and they'll disturb your gastrointestinal system less and less. So, take your pick. You can find purists of all colors on the internet, so I tend to go with convenience. One middle of the road option is do what's called a fast soak, where you heat water to boiling, then pour it over your beans and soak for 1 hour. I just tend to go with convenience - whatever works for that day. Like, tonight I was going to cook some beans, and I thought I had time for a fast soak. Then I ran out of time, so now they're doing an overnight soak.
I've so far followed a pretty basic recipe, but it's turned out to be delicious every time. I'm looking forward to trying new flavors as I do this more and more. Here's my basic recipe:
1-2 pounds dried black or pinto or red beans, soaked if desired1 medium-large onion/pound of beans, cut into large wedges
4-6 cloves of garlic/pound of beans, crushed
1-3 bay leaves (my bay leaves are old and cracked into smaller pieces, so if you've got fresher or large bay leaves, you may only need 1)
1 T. salt/pound of beans.
Put the beans, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Cover with water to 1 - 1 1/2 inches above the beans. Turn on your slow cooker. I've been cooking mine on high, which takes about 3 hours for black beans that have been fast-soaked. Cooking on slow is supposed to take about 6 hours. About 1/2 hour before the beans are done, stir in the salt, then finish cooking. This weekend I over cooked some pinto beans and some red beans - I think they don't take as long as black beans, and I lost track of time, as always. I think in the future I'm going to turn the heat down to low or just turn it off after I add the salt, to try to prevent over cooking.
After the beans are cooked, I fish out the onion and bay leaf pieces, then drain the beans.
I also made some amazing garbonzo beans. For those, I just put them in the slow cooker with about
4 c of beans.
1/2 t salt
water to cover.
To freeze: spread the beans on a sheet pan in as close to a single layer as you can get. Put the pan in the freezer. When the beans are frozen, store them in a ziploc bag, and use however you would use canned beans.
My kiddos have been going nutzo for the beans I've been making. Suzie has been tooting up a storm as a result, but she seems to think that's pretty funny, so it's all good by me.
Happy rootin'-tootin'-tootalootin'!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Fresh Spinach
Last spring we built a couple of raised bed boxes on the south side of the house to provide an early season planting space for greens before the main garden dried out enough to till. One of them became the perennial herb garden but the other spent the season planted to lettuce and spinach. At the end of the summer we planted half of a box to spinach in the hope that it would winter over.The spinach sprouted and grew some through the fall, then hunkered down for the winter, but has been growing again since the turn of the solstice and lengthening of the days. Today, we picked a colander full of fresh spinach which we will use to top dress a stir fry for dinner tonight. It's delicious.
No question about it: this is the earliest we have ever had fresh produce form the garden. Next year, the whole box! In the meantime, let the season begin!
Sweet Potato Fries
This isn't really a recipe, but do any of you all make sweet potato fries? If not, you should. It's become one of my favorite things to make as a side for dinner.
I just take a couple sweet potatoes and cut them up into french fry like pieces. Toss them with some olive oil and whatever spices you want and then throw them in the oven. Sometimes I just do salt and pepper, sometimes some cayenne, it really depends. I just bake them for 15-20 minutes or so and then eat them with a lot of hot sauce.
Truthfully, they are just a vehicle for hot sauce, but they're great. Don't get me wrong, I don't get a nice crisp edge or anything fancy. If you want great fries, go to a restaurant and order them...they'll actually be fried. But if you want an easy, healthy (I assume) side for dinner - go for it.
Molly
I just take a couple sweet potatoes and cut them up into french fry like pieces. Toss them with some olive oil and whatever spices you want and then throw them in the oven. Sometimes I just do salt and pepper, sometimes some cayenne, it really depends. I just bake them for 15-20 minutes or so and then eat them with a lot of hot sauce.
Truthfully, they are just a vehicle for hot sauce, but they're great. Don't get me wrong, I don't get a nice crisp edge or anything fancy. If you want great fries, go to a restaurant and order them...they'll actually be fried. But if you want an easy, healthy (I assume) side for dinner - go for it.
Molly
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Chicken Cacciatore
Hello out there!
I finally had the chance to cook a couple of times this week and I tried two new things. I made chicken cacciatore for the first time. It was pretty good, even though I didn't really follow a recipe. Here's what you need...
Chicken - I used boneless, skinless breast cause I had it. Most recipes call for thighs or drumsticks.
Red bell pepper, sliced
Onion, sliced
Garlic
Mushrooms, sliced
Can of whole plum tomatoes, chopped. I used about 10oz with 1 pound of chicken
White wine, about 1/3 of a cup with 1 pound of chicken
Chicken stock, about 1/2 cup
Thyme, oregano, or whatever seasonings you choose
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in saute pan and add the chicken to brown both sides. Remove the chicken. Reduce heat and add more oil if necessary. Add onions and pepper and saute until soft-ish. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until veggies are done. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, both, herbs, salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes for fun. At some point add the chicken back in to thoroughly cook.
If you just treat this like a stir fry (sort of), it works. I didn't really measure, just threw some stuff in 'til it looked about right. It ended up being pretty good. Truthfully it wasn't my favorite because I don't get too jazzed about cooked bell pepper. That being said, it's good enough to go on my regular rotation because it's quick and easy.
Molly
I finally had the chance to cook a couple of times this week and I tried two new things. I made chicken cacciatore for the first time. It was pretty good, even though I didn't really follow a recipe. Here's what you need...
Chicken - I used boneless, skinless breast cause I had it. Most recipes call for thighs or drumsticks.
Red bell pepper, sliced
Onion, sliced
Garlic
Mushrooms, sliced
Can of whole plum tomatoes, chopped. I used about 10oz with 1 pound of chicken
White wine, about 1/3 of a cup with 1 pound of chicken
Chicken stock, about 1/2 cup
Thyme, oregano, or whatever seasonings you choose
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in saute pan and add the chicken to brown both sides. Remove the chicken. Reduce heat and add more oil if necessary. Add onions and pepper and saute until soft-ish. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until veggies are done. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, both, herbs, salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes for fun. At some point add the chicken back in to thoroughly cook.
If you just treat this like a stir fry (sort of), it works. I didn't really measure, just threw some stuff in 'til it looked about right. It ended up being pretty good. Truthfully it wasn't my favorite because I don't get too jazzed about cooked bell pepper. That being said, it's good enough to go on my regular rotation because it's quick and easy.
Molly
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