In search of bean-based recipes that don’t require a lot of steps or ingredients or equipment. I’m looking for more comfy staples that I can make while I’m not feeling well. Any ideas?
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Vanilla ice cream
My all time favorite BEANS recipe: Take 28 grams of dried BEANS, and grind them coarsely. Put BEANS into a suitable vessel that can strain. Take 475 grams of 200°F HEATED WATER. Pour about 75g into BEANS and wait 30 seconds. Pour the rest of the HEATED WATER into BEANS, stir it, cover it, and wait 3 minutes. Strain your BEAN JUICE into a SUITABLE CONSUMPTION VESSEL. Enjoy your HEATED BEAN JUICE.
I don’t like HEATED BEAN JUICE, but I’m a big fan of HEATED LEAF WATER.
My favorite is sauteed chickpeas (they are legumes dont @ me), with diced onion, garlic, and topped with spinach. Add some oil to the pan, drain and dump the can in, kind of mash em up a little so you have some intact ones and some squashers, add the onion and garlic when ready, turn the heat off, and add some spinach to wilt it. Sometimes I’ll add some extra spinach and diced tomatoes to make some weird hot salad thing.
My suggestions would be to learn how to cook a perfect pot of beans on their own. Beans are wonderful and can be the star of their own solo show, complimented by salt, fat, and some humble aromatics. Carla Lalli Music is a bean queen and following her bean philosophy has given me the best pots of beans. This is a good starter recipe for brothy basil beans and this is more of a ‘beans and other things’ kind of recipe. Carla talks a lot about using fat liberally and as far as beans go, I have yet to overdo it. Don’t be afraid to really let that bottle of olive oil glug glug glug away.
If you’re going for canned bean ideas, I like doing crispy roast chickpeas or a simple chana masala. I find other canned bean applications are fairly lackluster compared to the flavor and texture payoff you can get from cooking from dried. That said, canned beans are great in a pinch and I always have a few kinds in my pantry.
Thank you! I appreciate this
Sure thing! Also I forgot something very important: beans take FOREVER to soften in acidic conditions. My biggest bean fails have been attempting dried beans (even pre-soaked ones) in tomato based sauces from the start. They just never fully soften. Instead, save tomatoes and vinegar for the end. If you’re doing something like chili, I’d recommend cooking the beans in a separate broth. Keep it simple but well seasoned, cook until tender or just shy of tender, and then add to the chili to finish cooking them in the sauce.
Get a can of black beans and some rice. Make the rice, put the beans on top. Black beans and rice.
DIRECTIONS:
Step 1. Open the can
There are 3 quickish bean recipes that I make. There’s a range of effort levels for each.
Chana Masala. Start a pot of rice. Maybe add bullion. Sautee onions, throw in garlic, sprinkle in curry powder. Strain and add a can of chickpeas. Add any can of tomatoes (fire roasted, w/ green chiles, plain). Maybe a little can of diced chiles. More curry powder. Low heat until the rice is ready. Serve the goop over rice. Or mix them.
Lentil soup. Sautee onions. Add garlic. Add broth and bullion. Add carrots, celery, tomatoes, maybe bits of potato, and some spices (I do a random Penzey’s blend, smoked paprika, bay leaves) and boil it. Add lentils. Simmer until it’s right.
Bean tacos. Heat some corn tortillas, either foil wrapped in the oven or fried until they’re crispy. Sautee some onions and peppers (bell, poblano, jalapeno, fresno, idk). Strain and add a can of pinto or black beans. Smash those up a bit. Maybe add tomatoes. Add taco or adobo seasoning and some MSG. Maybe some cubed up leftover chicken. Goop some of that into each tortilla. I like to have pickled red onions in the fridge to add. For sauce, I usually have plain Greek yogurt, so in a bowl, mix yogurt, salsa, hot sauce.
Instead of different bean recipes I like to make a variety of beans. There’s a great website called Rancho Gordo with a lot of different heirloom beans that are phenomenal, I love trying new beans. I usually cook each new type the same with simple spices to experience the base bean flavor before using them in more complicated dishes.
My mom used to put a bunch of beans in the crock pot with a chopped up onion and some bacon when I was growing up, it was always great! I think they were pinto beans, with the measurements somewhere around 1lb beans, one package of bacon, one large onion. Cover with water and crockpot until everything is cooked through and you’re happy with it :)
I’m a fan of peas and lentils because they require no soaking
I’m also fortunate enough to have a pressure cooker for when I need beans now but have misplaced my time machine and can’t go back to last night to start them soaking :]
My best “recipes” are just adding dried spices and condiments directly to the cooked beans, to-taste. I’m with you on “comfy staples for when feel not good.”
Try combos like:
- hot sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper, powdered lime
- dried dill, tarragon, marjoram, garlic and onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, pepper
- soy sauce, chili powder, garlic and onion powder, sesame oil, leftover duck sauce packets from takeout, dash of vinegar, pepper
- cook beans with a bay leaf; chili powder, paprika, cumin, cardamom, tiny pinches of clove and allspice, salt and pepper
- rosemary, sage, thyme, salt and pepper, tiny pinch of nutmeg
Have you ever tried mujadara? If you like lentils you’d prolly enjoy it, it’s a middle eastern dish with lentils and rice spiced with a bit of cumin and topped with crispy fried onions!
