Beans, beans

[mightyh]

I have to make a confession... I only use canned beans in recipes. Have never tried the dried version...

Last night I was at a party where they served ham and beans (from dried) and it was excellent. Plus, I've been trying to make two vegetarian meals a week this year. So I'd like to learn more about dried beans--what do I do with them? What are the different flavors (cause I know there are more varieties than I find in the canned section http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif) Are there any tips I need to know?

And, especially, what bean recipes would you recommend that I try at first to get my feet wet--your yummiest ones?

I'm hoping Phoebe will respond, cause she's always touting dried beans...

[sneezles]

mightyh
I don't have any vegen recipes (I'm sure Phoebe will come through for you) but I highly recommend trying dried beans. The easiest way is to soak overnight so the cooking time is reduced but if you cna't do that then boiling a bit stronger and longer is okay too. I usually use meat (ham, bacon or slat pork) so my recipes wouldn't be vegetarian. Haven't found a bean I didn't like! Good luck!
And one more thing, don't add the salt until almost done cooking-it makes the beans tough.

[This message has been edited by sneezles (edited 01-29-2001).]

[Leanne]

I don't use them often b/c of all of the soaking time beforehand & the length of time to cook - but there are some great bags of dried beans that have soup recipes on them. One is called 15 bean soup. It is sooo good. I would just look at the recipes on the bags of beans to get some ideas.

[Laura Wick]

I have two ideas for great bean dishes. My favorite is Senate Bean Soup, and then, of course, there is always chili. E-mail me if you want copies.

I've been using dried beans, mostly in soups made during the winter, for almost 30 years, and I think they are much better than the canned ones.

[Luiza]

I find the taste and the texture of the dried beans much superior to the canned ones. It's true that you have to remember to soak them, but cooked beans freeze beautifully, so they can be cooked in giant batches and frozen. Soaking the beans overnight cuts the cooking time in half compared to the quick-soaking method (Deborah Madison's recipes usually mention the latter).

Cooking times vary by the type of bean and the freshness of the beans. In general I plan for one hour. After about 45 min. I start tasting. If the skins start to split, the beans are cooked. Chickpeas can cook forever and still remain whole. The longer the soaking, the shorter the cooking time: if the beans were soaking for almost 2 days (which happens to me occasionally), they cook in about 1/2 hour.

As for recipes, try hummus with dried chickpeas. It's vastly improved. I also really like a chicken with dried chickpeas and turmeric recipe from Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Cookbook. I don't remember more details right now, but I will look for it at home.

By the way, beans cook very fast in a pressure cooker (15 min, I think).

Luiza


[This message has been edited by Luiza (edited 01-29-2001).]

[claire]

Here is a lentil soup recipe. I do not know the original source of the recipe, it came from my mom's files. Usually I double the recipe and freeze the leftovers. A loaf of crusty bread and a green salad go great with this to complete the meal.

Lentil Soup

½ lb. lentils (the regular brown variety)
6 slices raw bacon
1 c. chopped green onion
½ c. chopped onion
¼ c. chopped carrot
¾ c. chopped green pepper
¾ c. chopped tomato
3 T. flour
1 can (10 ½ oz. can) condensed beef broth
2 t. salt
3 T. cider vinegar

1) Put lentils in 5 cups of cold water in large kettle; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
2) Drain lentils. Add 3 cups of cold water and reheat.
3) Meanwhile, cut bacon in small pieces and cook in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon and leave 1 T. of bacon drippings in pan. Add vegetables and saute over low heat about 5 minutes. Add vegetables and bacon to kettle.
4) Combine flour and beef broth. Boil and thicken.
5) Add salt and vinegar to skillet, pour into lentils and cook another 30 minutes.
Note: Instead of the beef broth and salt, I use 1 ¼ c. water and 2 T. of beef base.

[SusanD]

Don't worry, Mightyh...you're not alone! I rarely use dried beans unless I have plenty of advance prep time. You can pretty much subsitute dried beans for any recipe that calls for canned - it just takes more work in advance (but in the end it's worth it!). If you're looking for a good bean recipe, there was a really good recipe for white-bean enchiladas a couple of issues back. I think it was in the "reader recipes" section. They were fantastic, so low in fat and very easy to make!

[catharine]

I bought a crock pot recently and am very pleased with it. For one thing, certain recipies allow you to throw everything, including dried beans, into the crock pot. No soaking necessary. I personally prefer the texture of canned beans, but dried are healthier. You can get a good crock pot for around $40.

Good luck and enjoy!

[cryskie]

I make dried beans once a week because we love them so much! I do use canned beans during the week for quick recipes, but once a week I make dried.

I put a bag of (usually black) beans (no soaking) in my crockpot along with a little chopped onion, about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and cover it with water. I let it cook all day or on high for 4 hours, then add salt and let it cook 15 minutes more. I got this method from Rick Bayless's new book (an awesome book by the way). We just ladle out the beans and top them with chopped tomato, chopped avocado, and crumbled queso fresco. Yummy!

We always have leftovers (It's just my husband and me), so the next day I "refry" the black beans with a teeny bit of olive oil (basically you just heat them up and mash them a little). Then we eat bean burritos, bean chalupas, or bean nachos!

Hope this helps!

Crystal

[Ohioan]

Here I am, MightyH, with my bean pot under my arm! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Actually, I never soak my beans any more, but I do allow at least two hours for a cooking session, depending on the age and type of the beans. Here's the drill:

First, put up a kettle of water to boil while you get the beans ready for cooking.

Next, pick over the beans for debris and for split or shriveled beans. I allow about 1/3 cup of dried beans per portion, but for hefty eaters, try 1/2 cup. Rinse the beans and dump them into the bean pot. Add some thin onion slices (about 1/8 onion per portion) and quartered garlic cloves (1/2 clove per portion) to the bean pot.

When the water in the kettle comes to a boil, pour it over the beans until it's about two inches above the surface of the beans. (If you like to measure, figure about 4:1 water to beans.)

Turn on the heat under the bean pot to low or medium low (you'll find the best heat as you do this a lot), give everything a big stir, cover the pot, and go read a book or do the laundry or take the dog for a walk or whatever is next on your list of things to do. Come back in an hour and stir everything up again.

After this, give things a stir about every 15 minutes, and begin testing for doneness at about 1 hr and 45 minutes, or when the beans seem to feel soft to your stirring spoon. Add water if necessary to keep the consistency you want. (Some people like beans "soupier" than others, or you may want to use them for a sauce.)

When the beans have softened a bit, add salt and any other seasonings. Don't add salt or acidic ingredients (tomatoes, lemon, etc.) before the beans have softened, or the skins will toughen and the beans will take forever to cook -- and may never soften at all. Keep cooking until the beans are completely softened and the flavors have melded. By this time, the original onion and garlic should have disintegrated into the sauce.

You can flavor beans with any combination of herbs and spices that you'd use on meat. Last night, I used a mix of cumin, coriander, black pepper, cayenne, olive oil, and lemon juice for a mideast flavor. The night before, I used basil, parsley, red pepper, tomatoes, and fennel seeds for an Italian flavor. Tonight, I'm going Mexican. And so on, and so forth.

To go with the beans, you can serve rice, pasta, or polenta -- side by side with the beans or mixed together. You can also add the beans to cooked greens. Or stuff them in pitas, tortillas, or lavash. Or cool them down and dress them with a vinaigrette for a salad. Or upend the pot and pour the beans directly into your mouth. (No, no, I'm just kidding!)

My next chapter will be on varieties of beans. Once you become a bean-weenie like me, you can actually taste subtle differences in the different varieties. Take a look at some of the heirloom beans at Indian Harvest, for example, http://www.indianharvest.com

Now, aren't you sorry you asked? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif

Cheerily, cheerily, cheerily, cheerily,
Life is but a bean...
Phoebe

[sneezles]

mightyh
Been looking through The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook, there are some great sounding bean recipes in there. Southwestern Vegetarian Black Bean Soup and Chipote-Black Bean Chili. Do you have this book? If not and your interested in either, let me know.

[JillC]

For those of you who avoid beans because of the long cooking time might I suggest..a pressure cooker. When I'm making a recipe that calls for beans, I soak them the night before and then cook them in a pressure cooker. Black beans take only about 10 minutes if they've been soaked. This is so easy that I never buy canned beans.
For more on pressure cooking (and some good bean recipes) I'd recommend Lorna Sass' cookbooks.
Jill

[mightyh]

Thanks to all of you for the details (and keep the good ideas coming)! I anticipate a lot of beans in our house in the next few weeks as I try all this great stuff. I think I do have a recipe somewhere for Senate bean soup and I do have the Complete Cooking Light, so I'll look those recipes up. Lentil soup is a favorite of mine, though I've never made it (Amy's makes a decent canned version http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif)... so maybe I'll try. And Pheobe has inspired me to experiment a little with what I do with the beans... Possibly no need for a recipe at all (which will be new for me, as I am a "by the book" kind of cook, usually).

I appreciate all your help--don't have a pressure cooker, but do have a crock pot.

[emilycat]

Phoebe,

I rarely eat beans....mmm...I know I should for protein, because I've virtually stopped eating all meat except seafood. Anyway, canned beans kind of don't appeal to me (mushiness factor) at all, so with your encyclopedic response to mightyh's thread -- which I am planning to copy and paste into one of my cookbooks -- I am armed to eat more dried beans!

And when I read this:

Cheerily, cheerily, cheerily, cheerily,
Life is but a bean...

I laughed harder than I have in several days http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif


Emily


[This message has been edited by emilycat (edited 01-29-2001).]

[LGBurns]

Phoebe: Thank you so much for the voluminous info on cooking dried beans. I had almost completely given up eating dried beans because I thought I had to soak them over night. Your advise is printing "as I speak" and I am taping it to the inside of my cookbook cabinet. It will be a help for my husband too as he often has to cook for himself. Once again -- YOU'RE AWESOME!

[Ohioan]

Aw gee shucks golly gosh.... Thanks, y'all.

And I didn't even add the chapter yet on varieties of beans... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Whee,
Phoebe

[Marcie]

I just found a recipe for blueberry bean bread. It's like a quick bread with beans as the "secret" ingredient. It calls for 2 cups of cooked, mashed beans, any variety. That's a little too much leeway for me.... which kind of beans do you think would work best with blueberry? I'll share the recipe after I give it a spin.

[mightyh]

One more bean question for those of you in the know... I always read how, if you add rice to beans, it makes a complete protein. What is a complete protein and what are beans protein-wise on their own?

Something I've been wondering for a while...

[Wendy w]

We should crown Phoebe our "bean queen"! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Leanne]

Marcie - I would try some sort of white bean in the blueberry bread.

[kwormann]

mightyh

Just an FYI, you dont even have to pair the beans with the carb in the same meal, just in the same day to be complete. Beans dont provide enough amino acids (I think...its been a few years since nutrition class) to be complete, but paired with a carb is a wonderful source of protein...good with cornbread, tortillas, rice, etc YUM!

I love beans!

Kim

[Ohioan]

Beans are low on two of the eight essential amino acids, but grains, seeds, and nuts have plenty of them -- and are low on various amino acids that beans have. (A complete protein contains a full complement of these amino acids.) So as Kim says, if you have grains, seeds, and nuts sometime during the day -- or complete proteins such as eggs, dairy, and meat -- you're bound to get all the protein you need, if not more.

BTW, about 30 years ago it was thought that we had to have the complementary proteins at the same meal or within an hour or two of each other in order to get a complete protein, but now the official word is that eating a wide variety of food throughout the day will round out the proteins without your having to worry about them. I've even read recently that our bodies are more able to produce the essential amino acids than we used to think.

Foodgirl, where are yooooou? Help me out here!

Anyway, mightyh, the protein in beans is real protein. Dig in! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Cheers,
Phoebe

[mightyh]

Thanks to you all another of my food mysteries has been solved!

[luv2cook]

ok - touchy subject to you out there who don't soak your beans the night before - the "G" word or "F" word...if you get the smell - I mean drift...my hubby complains whenever I make blackbean soup...and to be honest, I sometimes have a problem, too. Any suggestions on that end <pun intended> http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif

[Ohioan]

About the, uh, flatulence problem: http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif When you eat beans on a regular basis, your system learns how to handle the sugars that they create in your, um, intestinal tract, but until then, you might try one of the following remedies. I can't vouch for either of them, though, because I went with the "get used to it" approach and no longer have any problem at all -- in fact, I sometimes have a problem when I've gone more than a few days without beans. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/rolleyes.gif

* Some people put a strip or two of kombu (a type of seaweed) in the cooking water; others use a sprig of epazote. Be sure to remove the kombu or epazote before serving the beans; I imagine they stick in the teeth, not to mention the gullet. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

* Some people swear by Beano, a product that supposedly prevents The Problem if you put a drop of it on your first mouthful of beans. However, be aware that Beano is made with animal products and therefore isn't an option for vegetarians. (Some vegetarians I know weren't aware of this until recently, and have written outraged letters to the manufacturers, who sometimes advertise in vegetarian magazines.)

Also, make sure the beans are thoroughly cooked. Undercooked beans are more likely to generate the sugars that cause the problem. I'd also suggest eating lots of rice with the beans when you're first getting used to them. There's nothing official on this, but I noticed at the beginning that rice seemed to form a kind of "cushion" against, ah, rumblings. But that may just have been my own digestive patterns at work.

Hope this helps.
Phoebe, the Bean-Weenie

[venus]

Phoebe, I am in awe of you, but might I add one thing?

Soybeans are a complete protein, they don't need to be combined with milk or carbohydrates like many other beans. This is just one of the reasons that soybeans are a wonderful, versatile food.

Jill--I used to make beans in the pressure cooker all the time, until my pressure cooker broke http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif No soaking and beautiful beans in 45 minutes.

[ElinorC]

I've heard that discarding the soaking water will help ease the flatulence problem. Any comments on this? I've tried it and it seems to help. I think that cooked dried beans don't cause the problem that canned beans do.

[BeckyM]

What an interesting topic. I've been trying to add more beans to our diet, both because they're good for us, AND because my husband really likes them. I've almost exclusively used canned beans though -- I haven't had a problem with them texture-wise (or digestive system-wise), so I haven't really felt a need to try dried beans. But since so many of you say they taste better, I'm willing to try. I think someone also said they're better for us -- is that true? And if so, why? Do they lose nutrients in the canning process?

I did buy a bag of 15-Bean Soup beans the other day, so I was glad to see Leanne's mention of it. I hope it's as good as she says, because I'm making that as a special treat for my husband, and he really deserves something GGGRRRREAT! (That's supposed to sound like Tony the Tiger, in case you were wondering. No special reason, just that I wanted a word better than plain old "great", and "awesome" is a bit overused these days.)

becoming Beanie Becky http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[junietoo]

I used to eat beans a lot back when I was a vegetarian. But, as I got older, I started to have a problem digesting them. Has anyone else found that by gradually easing them back into your diet you overcame the digestion problem? In the meantime, I'm a Beano fan.

[JHolcomb]

This is a really basic (but good) recipe that my mom and grandma always make-like twice a week, and that I make when I have the time now . All my mom and grandma have ever done to the beans is rinse them-remember, beans are a "raw agricultural product," and each bag will undoubtably contain several rocks, and boil them with no presoaking, adding either ham hock or vegetable oil and salt. We eat them with lots of chopped onion and, if we have it around, homemade saurkraut. A little sugar is supposed to help get rid of the unpleasantness, but honestly I've never tried it (although I really should...).Anyway, I love beans and would eat them a lot more if they were faster to prepare (I've never cared for canned beans-funky flavor).



[This message has been edited by JHolcomb (edited 01-31-2001).]

[emilycat]

JHolcomb,

I am an ardent lover of sauerkraut (and it's virtually the only German food I'll touch!); do you have a recipe you wouldn't mind posting for me? I would love to be able to make my own. Thanks!

Emily

[Luiza]

Here is the recipe that convinced me that dried chickpeas are way better than their canned brethen:

Chicken with Chick Peas
(Claudia Roden, A Book of Middle Eastern Food)

1 large roasting chicken (about 4lb)
2 tablespoons corn oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 lb chick peas, soaked overnight
juice of 1 lemon, or more
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed
salt
black pepper or a pinch of cayenne

Wipe the chicken inside and out with a damp cloth.

Heat the oil in a saucepan or a deep flameproof casserole (large enough to hold the chicken). Fry the chopped onion in the oil until soft and golden. Sprinkle with turmeric and mix well. Add the chicken and saute gently, turning it until it is a dark yellow colour all over. Add a pint [20 fl. oz.] of water, the soaked and drained chick peas, lemon juice and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, covered, for 1 hour or longer, until the chicken is very tender, the chick peas soft, yellow and lemony, and the liquid very much reduced. Adjust seasoning and serve, cut up into joints.

I make this recipe with just chicken legs, not the whole chicken.

Luiza

[JillC]

Regarding digestive problems with beans http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif
That's the main reason I don't eat canned beans. When I make them myself, I have no problems. I do add some kombu when I cook them, so I wonder if that makes a difference. I also throw out the water that I use to soak them.
I've always wondered about Beano. I'm glad to know it works.
And for those of you who agree that home-cooked beans are the way to go...again, I recommend a pressure cooker. It speeds up the cooking time by leaps and bounds and is great for other things like cooking brown rice quickly and steaming veggies.
Jill

[JHolcomb]

Emilycat-
I wish I could say that I had a recipe for the kraut, but there isn't really one. My grandparents just pack a bunch of cabbage and a bunch of salt into a crock and let it sit outside for a couple of weeks and then they can it. It's a pretty gross concept, especially when you consider the fact that they make this in the heat of summer. Totally stinky-but very yummy.

Two of my roommates refused to let me keep kraut in the fridge 'cause it made all the other food taste funky. Luckily my husband loves it so much that he dosn't care about the funk http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif. Funny thing that he loves it so much, because until he met me he refused to eat it because he thought it was pickled in vinegar, which he has a serious aversion to.

Anyway, I hope you find a good recipe-wish I coud be of more help, but I really don't know the amts-heck, I don't think they do either- just one of those "little of this and that" things. -Jen

[luv2cook]

I do soak, rinse rinse rinse then cook. I guess we don't eat enough but I will take cooked beans to canned any day. I do them on Sundays and then portion them out and freeze them. 2 min. in microwave and they're ready to go...beano...forgot about that...I will try and find some espazote and the other one...thanks!

[ewatkins]

I couldn't resist adding this to the bean discussion--black bean brownies. There is a cookbook called Stealth Cooking, or something like that. It's all about how to "sneak" in healthy ingredients that your picky family won't notice. Ex: making twice cooked potatoes but adding cooked cauliflower to the potatoes. My sister swears the recipe for the brownies is terrific--high fiber and you can't taste the beans. I haven't tried it myself.

[Wendy w]

I'm with JillC about using the pressure cooker in the preparation of beans and have read in several places to discard the cooking water in order to prevent gas. On occasion, I will soak them overnight. Lorna Sass does know what she is talking about when it comes to beans.

If any of you are interested in cooking beans using a pressure cooker, I would like to suggest my favorite pressure cooker book (outside of Lorna Sass), The Ultimate Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Maureen Keane & Daniella Chace. They ahve some good pointers on cooking beans under pressure and some very good Mediterranean style recipes.

[Wendy w]

OOps, double posting, sorry!!!
I'm with JillC about using the pressure cooker in the preparation of beans. I have also read in several sources about discarding the cooking water in order to prevent gas. On occasion, I will soak them overnight. Lorna Sass does know what she is talking about when it comes to beans.

If any of you are interested in cooking beans using a pressure cooker, I would like to suggest my favorite pressure cooker book (outside of Lorna Sass), The Ultimate Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Maureen Keane & Daniella Chace. They ahve some good pointers on cooking beans under pressure and some very good Mediterranean style recipes.

[This message has been edited by Wendy w (edited 02-01-2001).]

[kwormann]

I am going to try beans in the crock pot today...Black beans tonight with tomatoes, sharp cheddar, homemade guacamole, corn tortilas

Saturday is leftovers refried with tortillas http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Margatitas anyone????

KIm

[phantomcg]

Emily:

My dad used to make sauerkraut all the time when I was growing up. I looked awhile back but I was unable to find his recipe, however, I did post a couple from one of his old books on a thread called "Sauerkraut festivals anyone". I'll attempt to include a link for you (never done that before). Hopefully the recipe will be of some help to you.
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/001667.html

Cheryl

Hey, look at that, it worked..... anyways, the posting I'm referring to is the second one from the bottom.

[This message has been edited by phantomcg (edited 02-02-2001).]

[kwormann]

Anyone see Good Eats tonite? Alton Brown was talking beans. It was interesting!

Kim

[ElinorC]

I love to watch Alton Brown and I DID see the bean program. It was great and I thought about all you bean eaters when I saw it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif