APPENDIX 5
Everyday Bean Cookery
The most efficient way to use beans is to plan ahead a day or two, cook up a good-sized batch (starting with 2 cups of dry beans), and make two different recipes with them. One cup of cooked beans can be used to make burgers, croquettes, a pâté recipe, or served atop an Everyday Steamed Salad Bowl (page 88). Beans served in their own broth over a grain make a great simple dish, and a chutney on the side adds some color.
CHOOSING HOME COOKED OVER CANNED
Canned foods of any kind have less vitality than fresh and so will sit more heavily in the body than ones you have cooked yourself. If you are in a pinch, however, it is better to prepare some food for yourself using the occasional canned goods than to eat out all the time. Please don’t avoid beans because you think they take too much time to prepare. Simmering beans for a few hours is easy to do anytime that you happen to be around at home: in the morning, while you are preparing for the day; in the evening, relaxing after work or the evening meal; while you’re doing laundry. And listen: if you aren’t home for a few hours here and there during the week, consider that this is a sign of imbalance in itself.
MAKING A BATCH OF BEANS
Rinse all dry beans well before cooking.
In a fine mesh sieve, hold the beans under the water, moving the beans around with your fingers, until the water runs clear. (Kitchen hint: Talking to beans the way you talk to your plants makes cooking more fun.)
In a large pot, soak your beans for 8 to 12 hours in enough water to cover plus two inches. Watch for beans that float to the top or are discolored. These should be discarded. Add a chunk of kombu (about one inch of kombu for every cup of dry beans). This sea vegetable removes some of the gas from the beans, adds trace minerals, and makes a thick broth. (Forgot to soak? Check out the quick soak method on page 289.)
Cook your beans in the kombu water according to the chart timing, bringing to a boil uncovered first, then reducing heat to low, covering, and simmering. Check on your beans every half hour or so, adding hot water if needed to keep the beans covered. Cooking beans is not an exact science. Remember that once you are familiar with a type of bean, according to its seasonal effect and how you digest it, you will know through experience how soft it should be when cooked and about how long that takes. If you are prone to gassiness, stick to smaller beans and cook any bean until you can squish it completely between your fingers.
Cooking times will vary, depending on the age of the beans. Keep your stock fresh by rotating the contents of your bean pantry every season. Approximate cooking times are as follows.
| BEAN COOKING TIMES | ||
BEAN |
COOKING TIME: SOAKED |
COOKING TIME: DRY |
Adzuki beans |
45 minutes to 1 hour |
60 to 90 minutes |
Black beans |
45 minutes to 1 hour |
60 to 90 minutes |
Cannellini beans |
60 to 75 minutes |
60 to 90 minutes |
Chickpeas (garbanzos) |
1½ to 2 hours |
3+ hours |
Red lentils |
15 to 20 minutes |
20 to 30 minutes |
Split yellow mung beans |
15 to 20 minutes |
20 to 30 minutes |
Whole mung beans |
30 to 45 minutes |
45 to 60 minutes |
To cook grains, measure out your quantity of dry grain into a cooking pot and use the chart below to determine the amount of water or other liquid needed and the cooking time. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, cover tightly, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed.
| GRAIN COOKING TIMES | ||
FOR EACH 1 CUP DRY |
CUPS OF LIQUID |
COOKING TIME |
Barley (pearled) |
2½ |
40 to 50 minutes |
Brown rice |
2 |
30 to 45 minutes |
Buckwheat |
2 |
15 minutes |
Bulgur wheat |
2 |
15 minutes |
Millet |
2 |
20 to 30 minutes |
Oats, rolled |
2 |
10 minutes |
Oats, steel cut |
3 |
30 minutes |
Quinoa |
1¾ |
15 to 20 minutes |
As with beans, the cooking time can be reduced by presoaking grains for a few hours. Grains need not soak as long as beans, but you can soak them overnight. If you don’t cook them within a day, refrigerate and cook within 2 days.
Measure the grain and water right into the pot you will cook in and let sit, covered. Cook time may reduce by as much as half, depending on the grain, so check your grain for tenderness early, if it is soaked.
NOTE: If you have a dry body type or it is fall/winter, it is beneficial to cook your grains with an extra ½ part water and to be in the habit of fluffing grains with a fork and ½ tsp of ghee or coconut oil per serving before enjoying.
