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beans, beans the musical fruit


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Okay, I know there's a bean thread around here somewhere but I can't seem to locate it!

I found a great website with thousands of bean recipes: www.justbeanrecipes.com I tried the following recipe last night and it's definitely filling and healthy. And oh, did I mention it's CHEAP?!? I made a crockpot full that will feed my family for 3 nights with a bit leftover for lunch for right around $2.00. Or, 20 cents a serving. And, if I made it in the early spring when my garden was producing potatoes and celery, it would cost under 10 cents a serving. Paired with corn and melon straight from the garden and dinner is done for pennies a plate!

 

Beans and Potatoes

 

2 cup dried pinto beans

3 large potatoes, chopped (original recipe called for them to be peeled. I left the peels on!)

2 stalks of celery, chopped

salt to taste (I used some chicken broth)

1 large sweet onion, chopped

 

Cook beans until tender - crockpot, pressure cooker, or canned if you're in a hurry.

 

Add potatoes and celery and cook until potatoes are tender. Salt to taste (I used chicken boullion). Saute onion until browned and stir into potatoes and beans. I also added some tobasco at this point.

 

DH and I are watching fat and calories so we ate the dish as is. I put grated cheese on top of my daughters dish and she scarfed it down. It would also be great with some ground meat or chopped ham mixed in. I kept ours vegetarian because I'm trying to make 2-3 meatless meals a week for both health and financial reasons. Probably not an ideal meal for diabetics although you could easily use jerusalem artichokes instead of potatoes and if served with a healthy side of fresh brocolli, it probably wouldn't cause a sugar spike.

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  • 7 months later...

Okay, cooking this recipe tonight with dried red beans that have been vacuum sealed in a quart size canning jar for 8 years. I am also using 1 pint of seasoned ground beef from storage. This recipe lends itself well to storage foods if you use powdered sour cream and freeze dried cheese. From the More-with-Less Cookbook:

 

Crusty Mexican Bean Bake

Crust:

Combine

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 Tablespoons shortening or margarine

1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt (increase flour by 2 T if using yogurt)

1 egg, beaten

 

Stir together. May be slightly lumpy. Spread thinly with back of spoon on bottom and sides of shallow greased 2-qt casserole. Fill with bean mixture (Crust may be stirred together in advance. Refrigerate until ready to use)

 

Filling:

Brown in skillet:

3/4 lb ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

 

Add:

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce

2 cup undrained cooked kidney beans

3/4 (6 oz) tomato paste

 

Spoon into crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle over or serve alongside: 1/2 cup grated cheese, 1-2 cups shredded lettuce, 1 cup chopped raw tomatoes

 

*********************************************************************

 

Obviously I don't have any tomatoes in the garden right now so I'll probably serve a bowl of salsa (again from storage) on the side as a tomato substitute.

Edited by Andrea
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The crust was awesome on the Crusty Bean Bake! Great dish, I will definitely be making it again. The only alterations I made was the addition of cumin (love the stuff!) and I used tomato sauce instead of paste since I didn't have any. Looking forward to the leftovers tonight!

 

With the leftover beans I made yesterday, I am trying "Baked Beans" in the crockpot! We'll see how it works out!

 

I took 3-4 cups of leftover cooked red beans and some cooking liquid and threw them in the crockpot along with 1/2 cup of molasses, 1/3 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard, salt, pepper, a small chopped onion, and 2 slices of chopped bacon. I brought it up to almost boiling and then switched the crockpot to low. I'm now going to ignore it for the next 3-4 hours!

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Okay, I know there's a bean thread around here somewhere but I can't seem to locate it!

I found a great website with thousands of bean recipes: www.justbeanrecipes.com I tried the following recipe last night and it's definitely filling and healthy. And oh, did I mention it's CHEAP?!? I made a crockpot full that will feed my family for 3 nights with a bit leftover for lunch for right around $2.00. Or, 20 cents a serving. And, if I made it in the early spring when my garden was producing potatoes and celery, it would cost under 10 cents a serving. Paired with corn and melon straight from the garden and dinner is done for pennies a plate!

 

Beans and Potatoes

 

2 cup dried pinto beans

3 large potatoes, chopped (original recipe called for them to be peeled. I left the peels on!)

2 stalks of celery, chopped

salt to taste (I used some chicken broth)

1 large sweet onion, chopped

 

Cook beans until tender - crockpot, pressure cooker, or canned if you're in a hurry.

 

Add potatoes and celery and cook until potatoes are tender. Salt to taste (I used chicken boullion). Saute onion until browned and stir into potatoes and beans. I also added some tobasco at this point.

 

DH and I are watching fat and calories so we ate the dish as is. I put grated cheese on top of my daughters dish and she scarfed it down. It would also be great with some ground meat or chopped ham mixed in. I kept ours vegetarian because I'm trying to make 2-3 meatless meals a week for both health and financial reasons. Probably not an ideal meal for diabetics although you could easily use jerusalem artichokes instead of potatoes and if served with a healthy side of fresh brocolli, it probably wouldn't cause a sugar spike.

 

Andrea, A lady from my church gave me the Beans and Potatoes recipe about 10 years ago. The only difference was she also added carrots. I add 5-6 because I love carrots! This is one of my favorite bean recipes. I'm also trying the Crusty Mexican Bean Bake tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.

Edited by Trudy
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You are very welcome! I'm thinking I might be using the crust for lots of different things! It was really tasty with the sour cream, and I used the fat free kind to help control the fat and calorie content!

 

For those who love baked beans but live in warm climates and hate to run their oven for long periods of time, my crockpot baked beans worked great! I took the lid off for the final two hours so some of the liquid would evaporate. We're going to be an extremely musical family for the next few days! ;)

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:thumbs: For the info on the fat free sour cream. I was wondering about that when I read over the recipe. Wasn't sure if it would work or not. I always try to watch the fat and calories too! Beans are one of the best foods for high fiber and low calories. Very good for us diabetics.
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  • 1 year later...

My families favorite beans:

 

"Beans a la Charra" from the Chevys Freshmex Cookbook

 

3 cups dried pinto beans

3 quarts water

6 slices (about 8 ounces) uncooked bacon, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup diced onion

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/2 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

2tsp ground cumin

1 tablespoon salt

 

In a stockpot, soak the beans overnight in the water (to cover). The next day, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the chile powder and cumin and cook for one minute more. Add 1 cup of the saking water from the beans while stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen all the brown bits adhered to the pan. Add the beans and remaining water, and bring to a rabid boil. Decrease the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the beans are soft. When the beans are cooked trhough, add the salt, and cook 1 to 2 more minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve, or cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days.

 

************************************************************

 

I usually only use about 1/3 of the recommended amount of bacon. I also use significantly more chili powder and cumin than the recipe calls for. After I've cooked the onions and spices and scraped the bottom of the pan, I throw it all in the crockpot and cook for several hours on low. This freezes really well.

 

I just made this late last night for dinner tonight and realized that I don't have any tortillas. I don't feel like making any so I'm going to throw together the crust for the Crusty Mexican Bean Bake and call it dinner!

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I've heard that little "jingle" for years...LOL ... "beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot. The more you toot, the better you feel, that's what happens with beans every meal"...LOL

 

ps...actually putting on a crockpot of beans in a bit to cook while we're gone to the Little House to do some work and a walk in the park (if we don't get rained on!).

Edited by Philbe
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

Made these Cowboy Beans on Sunday - instead of bacon fat or oil, I sauteed the veggies in broth. I also used a ham shank from the freezer instead of the bacon. Oh, and except for the onion & garlic that I sauteed over the stove, everything was cooked in the crockpot. Really, really delicious, especially with chopped red onion on top!

 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cowboy_beans/

 

Cowboy Beans Recipe
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 cups dried pinto beans
  • 1 Tbsp bacon fat (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (if not using the bacon fat, use 2 Tbsp vegetable oil)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 5 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 smoked ham hock or ham shank
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups black coffee
  • 1 1/2 cups tomato-based barbecue sauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños (optional)
  • Grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for garnish (optional)
  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion for garnish (optional)
  • Salt to taste
METHOD

1 Put the beans into a large pot and add enough water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes while you prepare the onions, then drain.

2 Heat the bacon fat and the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed lidded pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring often, until translucent and just beginning to brown. Add the garlic and sauté another 1-2 minutes.

3 Add the drained beans into the pot with the onions. Add the ham hock, the water, a little salt, and the coffee. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook this way for 40-50 minutes or longer. (Some beans may take longer to cook, especially if they are older.) The beans should be edible, but still just a little firm (not mushy soft).

4 Add the barbecue sauce and stir to combine. Cover and simmer on low heat until the meat from the ham hock begins to separate from the bone, up to 2 hours. Check on everything from time to time. If the beans begin to break down, pull the ham hock and strip the meat from the bone. The acid from the barbecue sauce should help the beans hold their shape. Add salt to taste. Add pickled jalapeños or some Tabasco to taste for some heat.

Serve with a little grated cheese and chopped red onion on top.

Yield: Serves 8-10 as a side dish.

(P.S. I'm so glad I posted this recipe on this thread! I totally forgot about the crust for the crusty bean bake! I've got a chicken in the crockpot right now that I rescued from the bottom of the chest freezer. I think I'll use this crust to make a chicken pot pie tomorrow.)

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  • 5 months later...

My pinto beans:

 

3 cups pinto beans

6 cups water

1/8 to 1/4 pkg of bacon (depending on my budget)

 

Boil until the beans are soft and the broth is thick and pink, adding more water as needed while cooking. (At our elevation, 4-6 hours)

 

Pressure cooking reduces the time down to one hour (depending on the age of the beans). Then, after opening the pressure cooker, boil a little longer until the broth becomes thicker.

 

Left over beans, refried beans:

 

Strain beans, mash in a frying pan, add 1 tsp of tomato bullion or not, then cook until hot and bubbly.

 

Save and freeze bean broth - add to next pot of beans, or use as bean broth soup with rice.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mmmm...beans and 'taters! My husband loved chili-beans over mashed potatoes, beans for breakfast, instead of hash browns (he'd pour on some salsa and eat them with his eggs) and also crazy about butter beans. I miss him, he was a peasant gourmet and such fun to cook for! He'd try anything, if I warned him that I was serving something new (and had a backup in case he did not like it). We only had to fall back on the alternate a few times, most things he liked. Especially beans!

Edited by kappydell
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  • 3 years later...

I stopped pre-soaking my beans several years ago and I haven't looked back.  Thought some of you might enjoy this article: http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html

 

Are you still soaking dried beans? Why? 

For years I’ve been telling people that you don’t need to soak most beans. Now the cool kids are agreeing. Yesterday my old e-friend, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, published on Serious Eats his findings on cooking black beans. The headline: “So you like flavor? Don’t soak your black beans!”

He’s a nice young man, so he very generously mentioned a piece I’d done many years ago on soaking versus not soaking dried beans. This prompted me to fire up the L.A. Times WayBack Machine and retrieve that story. 

It’s a funny thing about cooking: I’m always changing my opinions as I learn new things. But I have to say that this holds up almost entirely. The only change is that I now cook the beans at 350 degrees rather than 250. It saves time with no damage to flavor or texture.

Here is my story from 1994. And just for fun, I included a sidebar I wrote on beans and flatulence. Because, well, “Beans and Flatulence”! 

"Beans: To Soak or Not to Soak, It's No Longer a Question"

Almost every recipe in every cookbook you've ever read says you must soak dried beans before you cook them. In almost every case that advice is wrong.

 
Letting dried beans sit overnight in a bowl of cold water does nothing to improve their flavor or their texture. In fact, it does quite the opposite. While soaking shortens the unattended cooking time of beans somewhat, the time saved is marginal and there are no other labor-saving benefits. Finally, soaking does absolutely nothing to reduce the gas-producing properties of beans.

These may be difficult ideas to get used to, flying as they do in the face of everything most of us have been taught about cooking beans. One friend, an Arizonan, dismissed the idea out-of-hand, attributing it to my New Mexican background. "What do they know about beans?" she said.

But cooking unsoaked beans is not new. No less an authority than noted Mexican cookbook writer Diana Kennedy has advocated it for years. "If you want the best-flavored beans, don't soak them overnight, but start cooking in hot water," she says in "The Cuisines of Mexico" (Harper & Row: 1972).

In fact, the more I asked around, the more people I found who cooked beans this way -- mostly, it seemed, people from Mexican or Central American families -- although at least one prominent New American chef and another well-known French chef agreed.

What's more, few commercial canners soak dried beans before cooking. In fact, in a way they don't cook the beans at all. The heat and pressure of the canning process (called the retort) is enough to cook -- perhaps even overcook -- the beans right in the can.

Still, I wanted to see for myself. Call it trial by frijoles.

Betcha can't resist: 75 classic comfort food recipes »

First, I cooked three pots of beans: one soaked overnight, one quick-soaked (brought to a boil and left to sit, covered for one hour), and one simply covered with boiling water. To each pot I added a hunk of salt pork, some sliced onion and a bit of garlic. I simmered them slowly on top of the stove, covered.

The two soaked beans did cook more quickly than the unsoaked -- they were finished in about 1 hour and 15 minutes, as opposed to two hours. But when I sampled them, the extra 45 minutes paid off. The two pots of soaked beans were pallid compared to the unsoaked (though the long-soaked were better than the quick-soaked). The unsoaked beans had a noticeably deeper flavor; they were firmer to the bite, and they did not break up as much in cooking.

Then came the ultimate test. I sat down with a big bowl of the cooked unsoaked beans (after a little refrying with bacon and a handful of grated Monterey Jack cheese) and ate lunch. I waited, half expecting to blow up like a balloon (as a precaution, I did this test at home, alone). Nothing untoward happened.

That experiment was far from scientific, but after talking to a couple of researchers who confirmed my results, I moved on to more phone calls and other tests.

All of us, it seems, have our own set of folk tales about cooking beans. And most rules are followed simply because that's the way someone told us to do it, rather than as a result of any kind of testing.
 
--Some people told me quite firmly that beans should never be salted before cooking -- that this keeps them from softening during cooking. In fact, Kennedy herself makes this claim.

So I cooked beans with salt added (1 teaspoon per pound of beans turns out to be about the right ratio) and without. They cooked to exactly the same degree of softness in almost exactly the same time.

Interestingly, though, to get the same level of saltiness in the unsalted batch of beans, I had to add more than twice as much salt. And even then, it was more a case of the broth being salty than the beans.

--Other people said that the type of pot in which beans are cooked is the most important thing -- only earthenware will do.

I cooked beans in three different pots -- earthenware, stainless-steel and unlined aluminum. There was some difference in the rate at which the beans soaked up water (or, probably more accurately, the pans soaked up water). The earthenware needed more water early but then seemed to maintain a steady level a little better. I could find little difference in flavor between the earthenware and the stainless-steel, but the unlined aluminum lent a distinctly metallic flavor to the beans.

--One chef told me he never allowed his beans to be cooked on top of the stove. Only by cooking them in the oven is it possible to get the slow, steady pace they need, he claimed.
 

I cooked beans both on top of the stove and in the oven. With constant attention and a ready flame-tamer, I could manipulate the temperature well enough to keep the beans at a sufficiently slow simmer. But, covered, in a 250-degree oven, the cooking was almost effortless. All I had to do was check every half-hour or so to make sure there was sufficient water.

The effect of the cover was particularly amazing. Cooking beans in one test without a cover took six hours. The same quantity of beans, cooked at the same temperature with a lid, was done in about 1 hour, 15 minutes (without pre-soaking).

All of these tests were done with commonly available varieties -- pinto and white northern -- that had been purchased from stores that seem to sell a lot of beans. In fact, the age of the bean may be the most important factor.

Dried beans continue to lose moisture as they sit. With very recently picked beans -- say, the Scarlet Runners I pick and shell in the summer in my back yard -- a quick simmer is all that is necessary. (Actually they are quite good even raw when doused with a little olive oil, mint or basil and salt).

On the other hand, those dried flageolet beans you bought on a whim a couple of years ago that have been sitting in the back of the pantry ever since may be quite dry. In fact, with these beans, soaking may be necessary to bring the cooking time down to a matter of hours, rather than days.

Finally, it was time to put the beans to the final test -- cooking them in recipes. What good is science, after all, if it is not in the service of mankind? So test we did, adapting old favorite bean recipes to this "new" way of cooking. The results were gratifying: In every case, the dishes were done in almost the same amount of time as the originals. And the textures and flavors of the beans were much improved.

Progress is great when it tastes so good.

And now for the fun stuff. 

"Clearing the Air"

There is no getting around it -- beans cause flatulence. The degree to which different beans affect different people varies, but the truth is inescapable. And there seems to be little a cook can do about it.

Whether to soak beans prior to cooking or not is simply a culinary question. It may shorten the cooking time, but other than that, there's no effect [on flatulence].
— Gregory Gray, U.S. Department of Agriculture
"Whether to soak beans prior to cooking or not is simply a culinary question," says Gregory Gray, who has been studying beans for 10 years at the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Western Regional Research lab in Albany, Calif. "It may shorten the cooking time, but other than that, there's no effect [on flatulence]."

Louis B. Rockland, who has been studying beans even longer -- first at Albany and now with his own research firm, Food Tech Research in Placentia, concurs. "There are lots of old wives' tales [about reducing flatulence] -- people use bicarbonate of soda, ginger, sulfur, castor oil -- a whole series of them. But there's no evidence that any of them -- including soaking -- work effectively."

The problem with beans is well documented. At its root are two factors. First, beans are high in fiber, which most Americans don't eat much of and which can cause flatulence. Second, beans contain complex sugars called alpha-galactosides. The human body does not produce enzymes to digest these sugars. Mainly raffinose and stachyose, they pass through the stomach undigested until they reach the large intestine. There they ferment, producing gases -- hydrogen, carbon dioxide and -- in some people -- methane. The rest is faux pas.

It was thought that soaking beans in cold water leached these sugars out of the bean. Throw away the water and you throw away the gas -- it has a simple appeal. Unfortunately, it isn't true. These sugars are part of what the bean uses for nourishment as it grows into a plant, and the bean does not part with them gladly.

"When you soak beans in cold water, the beans are actually still alive and their cell walls are still functional," explains Gray. "Those walls are designed to be a very good barrier -- to take water in, but not to let the seed nutrients out."

Gray and his colleagues developed a method for extracting most of the alpha-galactosides from beans. The beans are boiled for three minutes (effectively killing the bean and allowing the sugars to pass through the cell walls), then allowed to stand for two hours. That water is poured off and the beans are covered and soaked for another two hours. Then they're drained, covered and soaked another two hours before being drained and rinsed a final time.

This method succeeded in ridding the beans of 90% of the troublesome sugars, but as you might expect, there was a side effect. "I used to do this blanch-soak method all the time at home and it works very nicely," Gray says. "The one thing people who ate dinner with us have noted is that you do lose some flavor."

What's more -- without going into details of what they measured and how -- suffice it to say that even with almost all of the alpha-galactosides gone, there wasn't a consistent marked decrease in human flatulence.

"We reduced the alpha-galactoside content by 90% but we haven't done anything to dietary fiber," says Gray, "and dietary fiber produces similar effects."

This casts doubt not only on this particular pre-soaking method but also on the effectiveness of enzyme additions, such as Beano, which supposedly supply the chemicals necessary to break down the problem sugars.

In fact, it seems, the surest cure for flatulence caused by beans is eating more beans.

"Apparently, if you eat beans regularly, the microflora [which ferment the sugars causing gas] adjust somewhat," says Gray. "If you eat bean-and-cheese burritos every day, unless you have some kind of specific problem, you probably won't notice it at all. In cultures that routinely eat beans, you don't hear a lot of complaining about flatulence." 

 

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One of my favorite bean recipes!  I eat mostly vegan these days to help keep my cholesterol down but if hubby is sharing, I will mix in one can of actual tuna per two cans of garbanzo beans.  Also, to keep fat and calories down, I use lowfat veganaise although the original dressing from the recipe is absolutely delicious!  

http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/2011/04/15/tu-no-salad-wraps/

 

TU-NO SALAD
Prep time:  25 mins Total time:  25 mins
Serves: 4 to 6 (makes 1 cup dressing and 5 cups salad)
 
INGREDIENTS
For the salad:
2 cans cooked garbanzo beans (15 ounces each; about 3 cups total), drained and rinsed
3 ribs celery, sliced or chopped (about 1 cup)
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 medium, ripe avocado, chopped (optional)

Cashew-Mustard Dressing:
½ cup water
2 ounces raw, unsalted cashews (about ½ cup)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons mustard (I like Dijon or stone ground)
2 teaspoons vinegar (I like apple cider)
1 medium clove garlic, sliced
2 to 3 teaspoons kelp granules (optional; see Notes)
INSTRUCTIONS
Place all of the dressing ingredients (water, cashews, lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, garlic, and kelp, if using) into a blender, and set aside for at least 15 minutes (so the cashews can soften).
Place the garbanzo beans into a food processor and pulse until the beans are broken but still flaky (do not overblend). Transfer the beans to a large bowl and add the celery, red onion, basil, and avocado (if using).
Blend the dressing ingredients until smooth. Stir the dressing into the salad. Serve as is or see the serving suggestions above.
NOTES
Adding kelp granules lends a seafood flavor to this salad (although it’s great without it, too). You can find kelp granules in the spice aisle or Asian cooking section of the grocery store. 

For a lower-fat dressing, substitute a little over ½ cup cooked white beans (any type; drained and rinsed) for the cashews.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Serving size: ⅙ recipe, ¾ cup Calories: 203 Fat: 6.1g Saturated fat: 0.9g Carbohydrates: 26.6g Sugar: 2.4g Sodium: 105mg Fiber: 6.3g Protein: 9.3g Cholesterol: 0

 

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This recipe is my favorite filling for special occasions.  In fact, I'll be eating it the day after Thanksgiving while everyone else is eating turkey sandwiches.  :)

http://www.simple-veganista.com/2013/11/cranberry-walnut-chickpea-salad-sandwic.html

 

CRANBERRY WALNUT CHICKPEA SALAD SANDWICH

Ingredients

3 cups cooked or 2 cans (15oz) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup organic dried cranberries (chopped fresh would be great too)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 cup scallions (green onions), thinly sliced, white & green parts
mineral salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon each)
Dressing

6 tablespoons (1/3 cup) tahini or vegan mayo
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) champagne, white wine or cider vinegar (I used Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar)
2 tablespoons water (only needed if using tahini)
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
To serve

leafy lettuce of choice
bread of choice
Start by mixing your dressing. In a small bowl combine tahini/mayo, vinegar, water and maple syrup. Set aside so the flavors come together. This can be made a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Add a tad more water, or vinegar if you’re a vinegar lover, to thin out dressing as desired. If using vegan mayo, you may like to add 2 more tablespoons.

In a medium to large bowl, add your garbanzo beans and roughly mash with a strong fork or potato masher. Add in celery, cranberries, nuts, scallions, salt, pepper and dressing, mix well. Serve at room temp or let chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.

Serve on your favorite bread as a closed or open faced sandwich, or on a bed of leafy greens. You may even opt to simply enjoy the salad as is.

Serves 6 – 8.

Notes:

Add extra of anything you like, and vice versa, if you’re not keen on an ingredient use less or omit! One particular ingredient may be the vinegar. I’m not much of a vinegar fan but I loved the orange muscat champagne vinegar and found I used quite a bit and loved it!

Change up the walnuts, using pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc. If using sunflower seeds, use half the amount called for.

For the dressing, I have only made this using tahini since I do not use any kind of store bought vegan mayos. If using vegan mayo, adjust accordingly adding more mayo as needed, maybe 1/2 cup instead of 1/3. I do recommend trying this recipe with tahini…it is seriously so good that you would never know and it is much better/cleaner for you than the store bought mayos!

 

 

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Benefits of beans for those over 40 (That's most of us!  LOL ;)   )

http://www.doctoroz.com/article/after-40-nutrition-surprising-health-benefits-beans

 

snippet:

All legumes such as kidney, black, white and red beans, chick peas and lentils confer health benefits.

  • Including beans in your diet several times a week may decrease the risk of colorectal adenomas (polyps), which may in turn lower the risk of colorectal cancer.
  • Eating beans regularly may lower the risk of coronary heart disease.
  • The Shanghai Women’s Health Study looked at the legume consumption of over 64,000 women and their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that consumption of legumes, particularly soybeans, was inversely associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. The more legumes these women ate, the lower their risk of getting type 2 diabetes.
  • Beans are hearty and are a good alternative to high-fat protein sources like red meat.
  • In the Nurses Health Study of 83,818 women, researchers found that women who ate peanuts and peanut butter had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Peanuts, which technically are considered a legume, are high in healthy fats, magnesium and fiber.
  • Beans you may not have heard of but are worth a try: mung, adzuzki and cranberry.

 

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I've been exploring old threads.  I forgot about this recipe!  This used to be one of our favorites.  Posting it here because you can substitute beans for the hominy if you are so inclined!

Turkey Posole Chili

(this was adapted from a Posole soup recipe from the USDA 5 a day program and I don't really have a set recipe. What I have is what goes in!)

 

1- 20oz package ground turkey

2 - onions chopped (yellow or white, doesn't matter!)

1 tablespoon fresh chopped garlic (I use way more than this)

2 chopped peppers - I usually use a red and a green

chopped fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes (OR, ditch the peppers and tomatoes and just use salsa! I have a home-canned chunky salsa that I use!)

1 - #10 can of mexican hominy

water or broth (amount varies)

salt

pepper

chili powder

cumin

 

Brown the turkey into crumbles in the bottom of a large stock pot. Add the onions and garlic. You may need to add some hot broth or water to keep the turkey from sticking. When onions start to go clear, add peppers, hominy, and tomatoes. Or, add a couple of jars of salsa if you're in a hurry! Then, determine how thick you want your chili and add water or broth accordingly. This makes a great soup as well. Then, stir in your spices and let simmer for 30-45 minutes. I would use spice to taste. For example, whenever a recipe calls for cumin, I usually triple or quadruple the amount because we love the flavor! Same with chili powder. I deliberately under salt or no salt recipes because I flirt with high blood pressure so my family just salts to taste at the table. You could also use fresh cilantro if you'd like or add corn, or black beans, or saute some chopped celery along with the onions & garlic, etc. Use what you've got!

 

I usually freeze this into one serving portions. I use quart size freezer bags that I fill & then lay flat on a cookie sheet. This allows them to stack nicely in the freezer. (tip from OAMC years ago!)

 

Reminder: the mexican hominy has a lower carb count. I have no idea why. I also make a similar dish with bulgar and black beans, but that version is definitely not low carb! You can top this with sour cream and cheese if you'd like. I usually don't to keep the calorie count lower.

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OMG let me tell you how I spiced up canned pintos.

 

At the church where I work they have Wed nite dinner. Well the cook called in sick and it was Wednesday. So the pastor and I came up with Mexican Stack. Which is basically taco salad. So I ran to the store and bought everything needed. I got the bright idea to make charro beans and cilantro lime rice but couldn't find everything needed for the beans. So I though well what I have will have to do.

 

Here is what I used...

 

1 #10 can pintos

3 cans of fire roasted tomatoes

1 onion diced

1 bunch of cilantro

diced ham (bought a small pack of sliced ham and diced it)

5 fresh jalapenos (deseeded and diced_

lime juice from one lime.

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

 

Put in the crock pot on high for 3 hours. They loved it. Had lots of calls for the recipe today. I am thinking this would be great using dry beans and a ham bone. Cooking on low all day. Serve with cornbread and you have a meal

Edited by mommato3boys
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