Black bean salad

Loved this recipe.  Like the previous recipe this recipe came from a book I have checked out from the library right now called Clean Food by Terry Walters.  I have liked the things I've tried so far.
This recipe reminded me more of a salsa than a salad and we actually used it more like a salsa.  The  book gave the idea of wrapping it in a burrito with avocados and salsa, but we just put it on top of quesadillas or just a tortilla and ate it like that and it was delicious.
I loved that it used diced tomatillos.  That was new for me.  We love the tomatillo ranch that goes with cafe rio pork, but I had never tried it diced in a salad.  It was good.
I'd rate this one a 4.5 or 5 star.  I loved it's fresh flavors.  Of course my kids that don't like beans or salsa (not the same kids) were not thrilled with it.  I however enjoyed the left overs for lunch twice.  YUM!
I did do a tiny bit of modifying of this recipe making a bit less.  This way it serves about 6. (original was 8)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked black beans (2 15 oz. cans rinsed and drained)
• 3 tomatillos, husked and diced
• 2-3 mini sweet pepper diced
• 1/2 sweet onion diced
• 1 1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend.

7 layer dip

So, as I posted in my previous 2 posts, we actually had this for dinner.  It was super tasty and were it not so much work, I think I'd eat it a lot more often.  :)
I do have to admit that my younger sons didn't particularly care for it.  The 3 year old really wouldn't give it a chance.  He was in a bad mood, knew it had beans, and wanted nothing to do with beans that day - even smooshed.  Go figure.  The 6 year old ate his serving only half heartedly and was very excited to get just plain salsa to dip in when he had finished his 6 bites.
Not sure if I've shared this on the blog before, but our current food eating/trying rule is that you have to eat as many bites as you are old.  This works wonderfully well for the younger ones.  The littlest only has to try 3 bites.  The 6 year old 6.  I have to admit that sometimes the 13 year old gets away with only 1-2 bites just to avoid a fight, but only on foods he already "knows he HATES"  like the hummus on the Mediterranean pizza the other night.
OK, back to the 7 layer dip.  I made a couple changes - mostly because it worked for me.  The original recipe called for equal parts sour cream and mayo.  I had 1/2 cup of mayo left and 1 cup of sour cream so those are the proportions I used.  Honestly, I preferred to use more sour cream and less mayo if the flavor was fine, and it was.  Here's the recipe with links to the recipes I used for refried beans, guacamole, and taco seasoning.

Ingredients

• About 2 cups refried beans 
• guacamole
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
• shredded cheese - we used Monterrey Jack this day.  Cheddar would be good too.  about 2 cups or so
• sliced black olives
• chopped tomatoes
• sliced green onions (we actually didn't have any, so in reality we had a 6 layer dip.  However, our of tradition, I'm posting it with the onions as 7 layer dip.  Feel free to make 6 layer dip if you too forget to buy green onions.  :)

Directions

1. In a 9 X 13 pan, spread the refried beans to cover the bottom of the pan.  (mine were still a bit warm so I spread them out at the beginning to cool.
2. In a bowl, stir together the mayo, sour cream and taco seasoning.
3. Continue to layer remaining ingredients on top of the refried beans in the order listed.  Spread the guacamole over the beans, the sour cream/mayo mix over the guacamole, then sprinkle with cheese, olives, tomatoes and green onions.  
4. Serve with chips or veggies.

Pinto Pasta shells

Made these tasty little pasta shells last night.  I loved them and know if I don't get them blogged soon, I will forget what I did and I can't have that because I really liked them.
I got the idea from a March 2000 Betty crocker magazine.  Unfortunately for me (for easiness sake) I didn't have the 3/4 cup taco sauce it called for.  However, I ended up doubling the recipe and using all of the sauce I made which was way more than 1 1/2 cups, so I guess it all worked out in the end.  Certainly home made sauce is better than store sauce with preservatives and such right.  It sure was yummy and that is the most important fact when dealing with food.  Especially since nobody but me found the dinner from 2 nights ago even edible.
If making this again, I would probably start with dry beans - 2 cups dried would work well.  I think you'd get a softer bean that would mash better to make the beans a bit more refried which is always helpful for my picky 3 year old.

Ingredients

• 24 jumbo pasta shells
• 1/2-1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/3 cup (or so) diced onion (I had an extra large onion that I used for the sauce, but saved a bit for another part of this recipe.  I'm guessing as to the amount.)
• 2 cans (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 recipe enchilada sauce (or store bought enchilada sauce or taco sauce)
• 1 -1 1/2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
• handful of crushed tortilla chips
• Optional sour cream or green onions for garnish (I forgot to pull these out, but they would have went well.)

Directions

1. Make enchilada sauce according to directions.  Cook pasta shells according to package directions
2. In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until fragrant.  Stir in the beans, cream cheese and 1 1/2 -2 cups of the enchilada sauce.  Head over medium-low heat until cheese is melted, mashing beans up a bit if desired.
3. Heat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray.  Fill the cooked shells with bean mixture.  Place shells in the prepared pan.  Pour remaining sauce over the shells.  Sprinkle with cheese and chips.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Black bean and plantain burritos

Why have I never thought of this before?  I love black beans.  I love plantains.  I've eaten them paired together so many times it isn't even funny - especially living in Venezuela.  They both pair well with queso fresco.  So why have I never thought to put them all together in a burrito?  I have no idea.  But I saw this idea in a cookbook I have checked out of the library called The everything guide to being vegetarian.   While I can't say that it is my favorite cookbook, or that I want to buy it, it has had some good ideas - like this one.  However, in this recipe the book used canned beans - I used dried and totally changed up the recipe.  However, I do have to credit the book for giving me the idea of putting those 3 ingredients in a burrito.  So yummy.  The plantain adds a delicious sweetness and the queso fresco adds a nice saltiness that just made a unique and wonderful burrito.  Definitely want to try this again.  Oh, and sadly, the left overs are already gone - should have made more I guess.
Here is my version - some of the measurements are a bit vague, but it is to adjust to taste.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight
• salsa -to taste I'd say 1/4-1/2 cup.  Sadly I ran out so I was closer to the 1/4 cup, but a bit more would have been nice.
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 ancho chile
• 2-3 ripe (yellow to black) plantains
• 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
• tortillas -10-12 depending on the size.  If large burrito size, maybe only 6-8.  I used some homemade corn, and some flour ones from the store.
• queso fresco, crumbled

Directions

1. Place the  black beans, ancho chile, and 6 cups of water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-2 hours or until the beans are cooked.  (For me, it took only  about 1 hour.) (I also have to mention here that I took the skin off of the ancho as it cooked - not sure if it is necessary, but it kind of peels right off once it is hot.)
2. Add oregano, cumin, and salt and continue simmering and stirring occasionally until the water is mostly gone.  
3. Meanwhile, slice the plantains and fry until golden  in 1-2 Tablespoons of oil per batch. 
4. When the water is mostly gone int he beans, add the salsa.  Heat through mashing until desired consistency. (For me this was pretty mashed because typically my youngest won't eat beans if he can tell they are beans, but it ok with them if they are mashed.)
5. Serve beans topped with a couple slices of plantain, sprinkled with queso fresco and wrapped in a tortilla.  YUM!

The tortilla pictured here is a corn one.  I've found a corn tortilla at the store that is like the best of both worlds - soft and pliable like flour, but tastes like corn.  It ran in my mind that they used vital wheat gluten in it, so I tried out these by making the recipe on the masa harina package but adding a Tablespoon of vital wheat gluten and a bit of olive oil.  The result was fine, but still needing work.  Hopefully one day I'll get a version I love and post about it.  :)

White bean chili verde

When this recipe says chili verde, let me tell you, it means chili verde.  I've been trying to use more dry beans, and I've found that my kids have liked the chilies that I have made.  I've been trying to rotate type of bean, so it was time to try a white bean chili.  This one caught my attention because of it's use of tomatillos.   It also had tons of veggies - spinach, cilantro, peppers... 

Now, I'm not going to lie, this was a bit on the time consuming side.  It didn't help that I overfilled my blender and ended up spraying my kitchen with chunky green salsa either (did I mention that salsa was boiling hot and got all over me too.)  NOT pretty.  The chili did turn out well.  I liked the flavor, and I liked that it had tons of veggies in it.  However, it was a bit soupier than I would have expected.  In fact you could call this a green chili soup.  I actually ended up putting some crushed tortilla chips in my "soup."  It really tasted the best that way.  (I think because we didn't add enough salt. - by the time my poor hubby came home, I wanted out of the kitchen.  My arm hurt from being burned, and I'd spent my "simmer time" cleaning a huge mess.  I headed out to pick up my oldest from wrestling and he finished - resulting in salt not being added at all - but added later.)  

I think this would have been super tasty served with a slice of fresh lime to squeeze in.  It would also keep with the green theme. :)

Here's a little time schedule I used.  I have to say it didn't work exactly as planned but that was due to 1001 interruptions by 4 boys.

The night before - or early in the morning for me - soak beans

Start 3:10 -left the pot simmering while taking a son to cello lessons and dropping another at wrestling.

Home 4:45 -roast veggies then steam 

                     prep veggies non-steamed veggies (tomatillos and cilantro)

5:15 - puree  then simmer

5:45-6:00 - done and serve.

Again, that would be in an ideal world.  I will say that I did start when I got home at 4:45 but I wasn't quite done when I went to get the son from wrestling at 6:30.  But that was normal motherly interruptions  of checking on kids, helping with one thing or another - breaking up arguments...  Then of course there was the minor blender disaster - So hopefully your world is more perfect than mine and the schedule above will be more accurate.  :)

 

And my final commentary before I get on with the recipe already - this recipe calls for some random chilies.  It has inspired me to do a post on chiles (it will be my next post but will not show up until tomorrow.)  This recipe called for cubanelle chiles or Italian frying peppers - neither of which I could find at the store (and I went to the Fiesta mart - totally should have had every type of chile available in my area.)  So at the store I guessed and went with anaheim.  I was so proud when I got home and looked online and found out that low and behold anaheim is a good sub for cubanelle.  Yea me.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dried Great Northern or other white beans, soaked overnight or from the early morning, or quick soaked (I used a mix of Great Northern and small white beans - it is just what I had)
• 8 cups water (I'd seriously consider reducing this to 6 or even less if you want a thicker chili.  8 makes a nice soup)
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 anaheim chiles (unless you know what cubanelle chiles or Italian frying peppers are and have access to them.)
• 2 green bell peppers (I actually used 6-8 tiny sweet bells.  I always have them on hand and didn't feel like purchasing greens just for this chile.)
• 12 ounces spinach (I used baby just because that is what I always have on hand)
• 12 tomatillos, husked, washed, and quartered (I had some pretty large tomatillos so this was a lot.)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (I just used the entire bunch minus a couple that I kept for garnish then forgot to use as garnish - ha!)
• salt -do NOT forget this.  :)

Directions

1. Drain the beans.  Combine the beans with the 8 (or less) cups water, ancho chiles, and bay leaves in a large pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, (here is my problem.  I didn't see this partially covered part - that may have evaporated off some water??  I needed/wanted them covered because I was gone and couldn't babysit them.)  Simmer until beans are tender - 1 1/2 -2 hours.  (My beans were actually done when I got home after 1 1/2 hours.) 
2. Roast the anaheim chiles and green pepper (or red and orange)  under a broiler or over a gas flame, turning frequently until the peppers are charred all over.  Transfer to a paper or plastic bag.   Close tightly, and let steam for 10 minutes.  Peel and remove seeds.
3. Drain the beans, reserving cooking liquid and anchos but discarding the bay leaves.  
4. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil.  Add the anchos, roasted peppers, spinach, tomatillos and cilantro.  Cook until the spinach is wilted - 4-5 minutes.  
5. Spoon the spinach mixture into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  (DO NOT OVERFILL - Disaster may ensue)   
6. Return the puree to the pot with the beans.  Add salt to taste.  Simmer over very low heat for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Serve as desired - topped with cheese, tortilla chips, a slice of lime, sour cream -- any or all of those would be tasty.

black bean-sweet potato cakes

It is a good thing I have made some successful sweet potato pancakes recently or these would have been a total flop.  The recipe I was following called for only 2 eggs and no flour.  Let's just say my first batch looked more like hash browns that any sort of pancake.
This recipe also called for a lot more cilantro and chives than I put in (mostly because I didn't have that many chives in the garden.)  I ended up adding some seasoning as well.  Then they were delicious.  Still come in second place to these.
Here is how I ended up making them.

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
• 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 Tablespoon chopped chives (could up to 1/4 cup and skip the onion powder or omit completely)
• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (couldn't really taste this either.  I should have chopped more to have any flavor or omit it entirely.)
• 4 eggs 
• salt and pepper to taste - you want at least 1/2 teaspoon of salt probably up to 1 teaspoon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• dash of onion powder 1/4-1/2 teaspoon maybe
• oil for frying 1-2 Tablespoons per batch.  I used olive and coconut oil.

Directions

1. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the egg, onion powder, salt, pepper, cilantro and chives (if using) Add the sweet potatoes, black beans and flour and stir until well combined.
2. Heat 1-2 Tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick griddle over medium heat.  Drop batter on briddle by spoonful to make pancakes.  Flatten with the top of the spoon.  Brown on one side then flip and brown on the other side. 
3. You can keep these warm in a warm oven or cover them.

I ate one of these topped with salsa, because eating them plain I thought I would like it.  Turns out I liked them better plain.

cuban black beans and rice

I was going to post a tortilla recipe here, but I'm on a six o'clock scramble roll, so here is another idea I got from there - again, super modified because I decided to use dry black beans and cook the black beans and rice together like a green smoothie girl recipe I tried a while back.  I also subbed a tiny v8 for vegetable or chicken broth because I had it and it was about the right amount without having to open a can.....
While this wasn't my favorite black bean recipe of all time, it is a nice, mild flavored black bean.  I wished it had a bit more flavor, however, those trying to appeal to a crowd with varied palates might enjoy this.
I will say I didn't have many complaints, and Duncan has loved this as much as the vegetarian chili I made last month.  He's had it every day for lunch - ok so have I.  Might I suggest topping it with some tasty salsa (I'm loving whatever fresh salsa they sell at Costco - has a hint of lime flavor.  YUM)  and some sour cream or cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dry brown rice
• 1 medium leek, chopped (use white part and about 1/2 inch of green part
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (I just tossed in a handful I had diced and frozen)
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice (I think I just juiced a whole lemon)
• 1 5 oz can v8 (or 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth or stock)
• 2 cups dry black beans (soaked overnight)
• 6 cups water
• sour cream or plain yogurt for serving

Directions

1. In a large stockpot, bring beans to a boil in the 6 cups of water.  Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours or until tender.  (If you soak your beans overnight and until the next afternoon, they will probably take less than 2 hours, unless they are old or something.)
2. When beans are tender, Soak the leek in cold water for a few minutes to clean thoroughly.  
3. Add the rice to the beans.
4. In a saute pan melt butter over medium heat.  Saute leek for a minute or 2 then add garlic, bell pepper, celery and continue sauteing (basically I add to the pan as I chop, then stir)  Add cumin, thyme, pepper, lemon juice and v8.  Stir to combine, and pour into the rice and bean pot.
5. Continue simmering for about 1 hour or until desired consistency/texture is reached.
6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or salsa.

One pot Italian rice and beans

Here is another recipe from my preferred recipe book right now - The Six o'clock scramble.  I did modify this a good deal to use up things I had on hand like fresh rather than frozen green beans, tomato sauce not pasta sauce - upped the basil ... Seemed to go over pretty well with everyone.  Nothing super wow, but also nothing that got too many whines and moans.  :)  Pretty sure I didn't get a picture, and I forgot to serve it with the mozzarella cheese on top, but that would have been yummy.  I just forgot to get it out after making a salad.

Ingredients

• 10 oz (or so) fresh green beans, washed, trimmed and chopped
• 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with their juice
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 cup pitted black olives plus 1/2 cup of their juice
• 1 1/2 cups pre-cooked brown rice (I had left over in the fridge - original had just 1 cup quick cooking)
• 2 teaspoons basil
• shredded mozzarella cheese for serving

Directions

1. In a medium stockpot with a lid, combine all ingredients except cheese.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on how cooked you want your beans and/or how long you want the flavors to mix.)
2. Serve topped with mozzarella cheese.

vegetarian chili

This is another green smoothy girl recipe - only slightly modified by me.  It makes a ton, so either cut it in half, or be prepared for left overs/an additional freezer meal.
Everyone in the family seemed to like it.  I even got my anti bean eating 3 year old to eat it by pureeing the entire dish.  He used it as dip for his corn chips.  So long as he couldn't see a bean he was plenty fine eating them.

• 4 cups pinto beans, soaked overnight and rinsed well (mine got soaked from 5:30 in the morning on. Still worked fine.)
• 12 cups water
• 2 cups brown rice
• 2 diced yellow onions
• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 2-3 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1.5 Tablespoons chili powder (I reduced this, which made a very mild chili - you may want to increase it to 2 Tablespoons
• 2 Tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup diced bell peppers (I used sweed0
• optional (2 anaheim or jalapeno peppers, diced

Directions

1. In a very large stock pot, bring the water and beans to a boil.  REduce heat and simmer for 2 hours (or longer if the beans are very old. - until almost tender.)  Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour.  

These are very versatile.  We have used them as chili, burrito/taco filling, nacho topping, puree'd nacho dip/ burritos, and I plan to use them one of these days as baked potato topping.  

blender buttermilk waffles

Update: This is now my goto waffle recipe. I now use all wheat, sometimes 2/3 c bean flour, 2/3 c water, other times 1/3 cup each and 1/3 cup olive oil. Both turn out well. Love this recipe.

 After I taught my bean class, I ordered a downloadable bean book from everydayfoodstorage.net.  I've been trying to try some recipes from there, that this was one of those recipes - modified of course.  All of her baking recipes use bean puree.  I use bean flour.  It is way easier than pureeing beans in my opinion.  I also made these wheat-white and added a bit of vanilla.    I used a smaller portion of wheat than I normally would have because I ran out in the front of the pantry and didn't feel like crawling to the back to pull out another barrel.  However, I really liked this combination a lot.  I'm trying not to use white flour, and will probably end up trying this same recipe using 100% wheat, but I will probably also make these occasionally with white. She also made them in the blender - simple I suppose, but mine was probably dirty from green smoothies -or I didn't want to make it dirty so I could make green smoothies, so I made them the traditional way.   They were very light and fluffy - that is a problem I have with my current waffle mix.  I did double this from the original as well.  I have a large waffle iron and if I'm going to make waffles, I want left overs for another day in the week.  (they fit perfectly in my toaster.  I either refrigerate the extras, or freeze them separated by wax paper for another day.)
For the combination of being healthier than a lot of my other waffle recipes, and being so nice and fluffy I could give them a 5 star rating, but I still think I like tender sour cream waffles better, so they will stay a 4.5.  However, they are an awesome, plain waffle.  I'm planning to try and make a mix based on this recipe if I ever get buttermilk powder again.

Ingredients

• 4 cups buttermilk
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cups bean flour
• 2/3 cups water
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/4 cups wheat flour (I use white wheat and again, this is just the amount I had ground.  I'd either go all wheat next time or half and half -1 3/4 cups of each)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (bean flour, white flour, wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) until well blended.  Whisk in remaining ingredients (buttermilk, water, eggs, and vanilla) until combined.
2. Pour in pre-heated waffle iron and bake according to your waffle iron's instructions.  For me, it is until it beeps.  :)  LOVE my waffle iron.

black bean pasta

This pasta was super fun to make.  The recipe comes from the book The Everyday Gourmet by Sari Haag.  It came highly recommended on a couple of food storage sites I have visited, but I find it to be somewhat confusing in a lot of areas, and horribly indexed.  Definitely better than my whole food's kitchen's book, but still quite lacking.  However, there are tons more recipes, and they are categorized and tabbed - it's just that so many of the recipes refer you back to another recipe -or call for another recipe as an ingredient, or refers you to another recipe for the remainder of the instructions IF it is in the book (none of the bread mixes or biscuit mixes are in the book), the page number isn't listed and you have to hope you can find it in the index.  OK, sorry, enough ranting about the book.  It just annoys me that the thing cost $25 + and isn't better organized.
However, I really did like this recipe.  Like I said - super fun to make.  I know, who calls noodles super fun to make.  They are actually a bit tedious.  However, these actually turned out blue, and who doesn't love a funky blue noodle that has extra fiber and protein in it to boot?  Of course, in the book, the directions are all of 2 lines. Mix the 2 flours and proceed with the same method to make Homemade Egg noodles (see index)  Of course I've written it all out.  Have fun.
As with most things I make with bean flour, I think they smell very strongly of beans before cooking, but after cooking these just tasted like normal pasta.  You could sub out pretty much any dried bean flour for black beans, but like I said, I loved the blue tint these had from the black beans.

Black Bean Pasta

Ingredients

•¾ cup durum semolina (pretty sure I found mine at HEB.  It is by Bob’s red mill)

•1/3 cup black bean flour

•1/8 teaspoon onion powder

•1 teaspoon olive oil

•2 Tablespoons water  (or so said the original recipe.  I used 7 or 8 Tablespoons.  I’d start with at least 4.

Directions

1.Mix black bean flour, onion powder and durum semolina flour together. 

2.Knead in the olive oil and water.   Knead for 8-10 minutes –until you have a nice cohesive ball of dough.   (I’ve been experimenting with making pasta lately and it has been hard to know what the dough should look like.  Pasta dough is dry when compared to bread dough.  It should not be sticky at all.  However, it shouldn’t be so stiff and tough that it can’t be rolled thin either.  Add enough  water that is can be kneaded nicely, isn’t super stiff, but isn’t yet sticky.  When I started making pasta, I made it too sticky.  That makes it stick to the counter or pasta roller and makes it very hard to work with.  Once I figured out the right consistency, it really isn’t too bad to make your own pasta.   It does require hand kneading which is 10 minutes, but rolling and cutting go pretty quickly.)

3.After kneading,  Roll the dough in a ball and cover with a bowl or towel to rest for 1 hour.

4.Roll the dough out to the desired thinness either on the counter with a rolling pin, or with a pasta roller.  When you have reached the desired thinness, cut dough into strips (noodles) with a sharp knife, pizza roller, or the pasta roller.   (Or if your super fancy,  just run the dough through the pasta attachment of the kitchenaid or bosch.) I used the pasta roller method and cut spaghetti noodles.  (Mostly because I’d never done it before. )

5.Let hang on a rack for 30 minutes or store dried noodles for weeks in a jar. 

6.Cook in boiling water until the noodles float to the top.  

Beans class info

If you read posts on my blog, you may remember I posted about chia a month or 2 ago.  I had learned all about it at a healthy cooking class taught by a friend of mine.  Well, I had a turn to teach the healthy cooking class and did mine on beans.  You may have noticed I've been sneaking them into all sorts of things lately.  Right after the class I started trying even more substituting of beans -this time for oils because of everydayfoodstorage.net.  She always uses purees though.  I'm going to start trying to sub purees for powdered beans (mixed with the dry ingredients of a recipe) plus extra liquid.  I did it in my recent post on chocolate molten lava cake and it was very successful.
Here is all of the information from the bean class that I had put together.

Why eat beans??

Beans are very nutritious. 

•They are high in fiber.  ½ cup has 25-30% RDV of fiber.

•High in protein – ½ cup has 6-7 grams of protein and costs only 20 cents.

•High in vitamins – thiamin, folate, vitamin B6, and niacin.

•High in nutrients like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese.

•Can help lower cholesterol,

•Can prevent spikes in blood sugar

•The soluble fiber in beans can help reduce the risk of heart problems.

•High in antioxidants – particularly black beans.

•Beans are high in lysine but low in methionine.  Grains are low in lysine but high in metionine and sulfur amino acids.  When eaten together they complement each other and provide an excellent source of protein.

Reducing Gas

It is a fact, beans can and do cause gas for many people because our digestive enzymes are not able to break down the raffinose sugars contained in beans.  Here are some ideas for reducing the not so pleasant effects of beans.

•Sprout the beans first. 

•Include them slowly in your diet to help increase tolerance.

•Use Beano. 

•Discard the soaking water. 

•Use bean flours to gradually introduce beans and increase tolerance.

•I have read that you can use epazote, kombu seaweed, vinegar, or baking soda in the water to help, but have not personally tried any of these.  I have seen epazote and kombu in books, saw all 4 mentioned online today.  Vinegar did warn about it making the beans stay hard.   I’m no expert here.  Really they don’t cause me any problems. 

Ways to cook beans

•Soak first –  Then rinse, drain, and simmer for the amount of time listed in chart on page 2. Choose 1 of the following soaking methods

•Soak overnight

•Soak 24 hours /begin and/or begin to sprout

• quick soak by boiling  for  2 minutes then let soak covered for  1 hour.

•Avoid the soak completely and just cook them extra time –  For example black beans take about 2 ½ hours to cook from dry.  I have tried this and it works fine.

•Cook in a jar – discussed at class.  Basically cook in side a canning jar in a canning pot in a water bath.  Takes about 2 ½ hours but you can cook multiple jars/variety of beans at a time.

•Slow cooker –approximately 6-7 hours on high, or 12-13 on low

•Pressure cooker  - sorry, not an expert here. 

•Boiling water over bean powder – Nearly instant mashed beans.  

•Bring 1 cup water to a boil, whisk in  1 cup bean flour and 1 cup cool water.  Cook and stir for 1 minute.  Season as desired.  Or use as a oil replacement in recipes. 

Other ways to incorporate beans

•Grind dry beans into flour either in a grain grinder, or a good blender if you have one.    Use in place of up to ¼ of the white or wheat flour in baked goods.  I usually go somewhere between 1/8.  If something has 3 cups flour, I’ll use ½ cup bean flour and 2 ½ cups regular flour.  I will warn you, this changes the taste of the dough, and I don’t like the dough, but once cooked, the item tastes normal.  Can’t tell the beans are there.

•Make bean purees by pureeing cooked beans with a little bit of water.  Use the puree to replace oil in recipes.  (I don’t do this as much and haven’t done it lately, but I have tried it in the past and it does work.)

•Use as a meat extender or replacement.  For example add beans to taco meat to make it go further.  I’ve even made a sloppy joe type dish with baked beans.

•Toss cooked beans into a salad

Bean cooking/sprouting chart

Bean	# cups of water per cup of beans	Overnight soak?	Cooking time   (simmer)	sproutable
Adzuki	3	No	90 min	Yes (w & S)
Anasazi	4	Yes	90 min	Yes (w)
Black Eye Pea	4	Yes	1 hr 15 min	Yes (w)
Black bean	3	Yes	90 min	Yes (w&S)**
Cranberry	3	Yes	1 hr 15 min	Yes (w)
Canelli	3	Yes	90 min
Fava	4	Yes + peel skins	3 hours
Garbanzo	4	Yes	3 hours	Yes (W &S)
Great Northern	3	Yes	2 hours
Kidney	4	Yes	90 min
Lentils	2	No	25-45 min	Yes (W&S)
Lima	2	Yes	60-90
Mung	4	No	1 hr 15 min	Yes (W&S)
Navy	4	Yes	2 ½ hrs
Pinto	4	Yes	2 hrs	Yes (S) **
Red	4	Yes	2 hrs
Soy	3	Yes in fridge	3-4 hours	Yes but hard **

Most of this information comes from a book called A Word of Wisdom by Amy Cox Jones. (referred to in the chart as W)

Another book I have and like called 366 Delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains gives cooking times at about half the ones listed.  If find the ones above to be a bit more accurate. 

For additional information on sprouting, sproutpeople.com is an excellent resource. (referred to in the chart as S)  ** - sprout people advises cooking the sprouts before eating for better digestion. 

Bean nutritional value charts can be found here http://www.dietbites.com/Diet-2/beans-calories-nutrition-info.html or here http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/legumes-nutrition-chart.html

These are the recipes I shared

Taco pizza

Slow cooked black beans

Gluten free chocolate cake (made with garbanzo beans)

Sweet pineapple and red beans (just the beans and rice, not the bundle)

waffle mix

waffle mix zucchini muffins 

black bean pasta