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Tips to Preparing Dried Beans
Chef Sharon
Cold months of the year motivate us to look for plant foods with a longer shelf life because not much is growing in the garden. For the vegan palette, dried beans play an important part on the menu.
During the summer, green beans allowed to dry on the vine become shell beans. The pods are too tough to eat, but the mature bean seeds inside make wonderfully hearty bean dishes. Black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pintos, and limas, are some basic dried bean varieties, each with it's own unique flavor. As noted in the December newsletter, many more sub-varieties of these beans contribute subtle flavor, texture, and visual nuances such as Christmas Lima Beans.
Those cooked soon after harvest may take less than an hour to cook, but don't count on it. The larger the bean, the longer the cooking time. A first step for well-cooked beans is to soak them in twice their volume of water for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Should there be no room in the refrigerator for soaking beans, a bowl of beans and water may be left on the counter top, but the water should be changed after 12 hours to prevent its souring and tainting the quality of the soaking beans.
During this soaking time, organic dried beans actually begin to sprout. Sprouting beans change chemically, becoming less starchy, and more easily digested. There's really no short cut to properly soaked and cooked beans for digestability, flavor, and a well-cooked texture.
If you don't have a crock pot, sometimes called a slow-cooker, it's worth getting one just for cooking beans. With a slow-cooker, beans can be left to cook on a high or low setting for hours with no danger of burning them, and minimal watching. Larger beans can take up to 12 hours to cook, but it's an easy do in the crock pot.
Cooked beans are a major ingredient in chili, hearty soups, re-fried beans, salads, spreads, and even some vegan cheeses. So cook up a pound or two, a different variety each week, and see what creative ways interest you in making beans the center of the plate. Should only one dish appeal to your time and talents, freeze the remaining beans to use another week. The flavor or home-cooked beans outshines canned beans any day.
During the summer, green beans allowed to dry on the vine become shell beans. The pods are too tough to eat, but the mature bean seeds inside make wonderfully hearty bean dishes. Black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pintos, and limas, are some basic dried bean varieties, each with it's own unique flavor. As noted in the December newsletter, many more sub-varieties of these beans contribute subtle flavor, texture, and visual nuances such as Christmas Lima Beans.
Those cooked soon after harvest may take less than an hour to cook, but don't count on it. The larger the bean, the longer the cooking time. A first step for well-cooked beans is to soak them in twice their volume of water for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Should there be no room in the refrigerator for soaking beans, a bowl of beans and water may be left on the counter top, but the water should be changed after 12 hours to prevent its souring and tainting the quality of the soaking beans.
During this soaking time, organic dried beans actually begin to sprout. Sprouting beans change chemically, becoming less starchy, and more easily digested. There's really no short cut to properly soaked and cooked beans for digestability, flavor, and a well-cooked texture.
If you don't have a crock pot, sometimes called a slow-cooker, it's worth getting one just for cooking beans. With a slow-cooker, beans can be left to cook on a high or low setting for hours with no danger of burning them, and minimal watching. Larger beans can take up to 12 hours to cook, but it's an easy do in the crock pot.
Cooked beans are a major ingredient in chili, hearty soups, re-fried beans, salads, spreads, and even some vegan cheeses. So cook up a pound or two, a different variety each week, and see what creative ways interest you in making beans the center of the plate. Should only one dish appeal to your time and talents, freeze the remaining beans to use another week. The flavor or home-cooked beans outshines canned beans any day.
