• the cat is NOT allowed on the counters. She clearly wanted to be a part of the video.
• If you are looking for these beans, I purchased Rancho Gordo‘s Black Turtle beans. All of their beans are excellent so please enjoy!
• The black beans I cooked took just under 5 hours with no soaking. The great part about using the crockpot is that it warms up slowly and actually acts as a brief soak for the beans. The fresher your beans the closer to the 4-5 hour mark they will cook. They may take closer to 6 and that is fine!
• Cook the beans on the HIGH setting of your slow cooker for crockpot. Low would take a very long time!
• As I mention towards the end, beans freeze easily and happily. It is always a great idea to make extra to freeze.
• I store the beans with the stock they cooked in. Once I’ve eaten them I may save the stock for a soup or rice dish. It generally has a lot of flavor and is worth using.

Let me know how your beans in the crockpot experience goes!

Here is the recipe if you prefer to read rather than watch.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. black turtle beans
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 pieces of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 T. epazote (opt.)
• 6-8 c. of chicken or vegetable stock, or just water

1. Sort through the black beans to remove any stones. Rinse well.
2. Chop the onion into about 8 chunks. Chop the carrots & celery into ~1-inch pieces.
3. Smash & peel the garlic.
4. Add all the ingredients to the crock pot container. Ensure that there are at least 2″ of liquid covering the beans. If not simply add more.
5. Turn the crocpot to HIGH. Start to check the beans after about 4 hours, though most will cook in 5-6 hours.
6. Serve immediately or allow to cool then store in the refrigerator or freeze. Beans defrost easily and even handier than a can!

I have had a hard time deciding how to post this recipe. Should I post the beans alone then add the combined recipe? Or just do the combined? What about the amazing ham stock – how shall I highlight that? And serving with spinach (as shown) is an amazing bonus that adds great green taste & value while enhancing the flavors of the dish.

At the end of the day – I decided that this should present as one large recipe with call-outs to the individual specialties. Making this recipe – in any way you opt to make it – produces a lovely first meal of red beans & rice, a second meal depending on what you want to do with the bean (& ham potentially) stock and who even knows what you will turn that into? The point is – this recipe presents options all around, a use of a leftover (the ham) to turn something you would normally overlook into deeply scented bean stock. Really, it can’t be beat.

And now that I’ve mentioned that ham multiple times, let me elaborate. Holidays are rife with hams in my family. Specifically my family had a pre-Christmas shindig where we celebrated and enjoyed each other’s company. While there were numerous options, one of the primary dishes was ham. Ham is obviously best with a crowd because it produces a LOT of meat and since many of us don’t make this frequently at home, it is a wonderful treat. The point of this is that my husband had the foresight to ask for one of the ham-bone-legs as we left the party. Since there were two, my aunt was happy to share with us and we took home a beautiful – mostly eaten but a lot of meat still on it – ham leg. I promptly put this leg in the freezer because the holiday travel season was upon me.

In January, that crowded freezer began to drive me crazy. Additionally I paid another visit to my friends at Rancho Gordo and picked up what they described as the *ultimate* red beans & rice bean – the Red Nightfall bean. Its a beautiful bean and I was anxious to give it a try. I took the ham straight from the freezer and added it to a pot of water & beans. The beans cooked, the ham disintegrated, and I was left with beans for red beans & rice, and an amazingly rich ham/bean stock that I used for soup later in the week. Don’t pitch that stock out – its yummy! So here it is, my version of red beans & rice with bonus extras. BTW – reheated with spinach (as shown above) is a perfect meal & a great way to get extra greens in your diet!

For the beans & stock:

• 1 ham bone, ham hock, chunk of bacon, or just leave the whole meat thing out
• 1 lb. of Red Nightfall beans (or kidney, beans etc.)
• 2 bay leaves

1. Add ham bone (leave extra meat on it, this cooks down beautifully) to a large stock pot. Fill with water to cover the ham bone. Add the red beans & bay leaves and bring everything to a boil.
2. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 1-2 hours until beans are nicely cooked but not breaking down.
3. Strain out beans & ham meat. Discard the bone & bay leaves. Be sure to save the stok produced from this mixture.

For the red beans and rice:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 T. garlic, minced
• 4-5 sprigs of thyme (or about 1 t. dried)
• 1 1/2 c. rice
• beans from above recipe
• 3 c. of stock (preferably use the stock produced above or any vegetable or chicken stock)

1. In a large pot warm some olive oil. Sauté the onion, peppers, and garlic until just softening. Add the thyme, rice, beans, and stock. Stir well to combine then cover and lower the heat to low.
2. Cook for about 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. If after about 20 minutes rice is done but liquid remains, raise the heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, stirring, until liquid is absorbed.
3. Season well with salt & pepper, then serve. Garnish with fresh parsley to add a bit of color.

This soup is a staple for me. I absolutely adore it! I found my inspiration from Bobby Flay’s newest cookbook: Mesa Grill. The soup itself is thick and hearty. And no meat eater feels the lack of meat as the main course (& if you used a meaty stock then there is no meat lacking anyway ). Don’t skimp on toppings for the soup either – it takes “soup” to a new level and impresses even your toughest guest!

Best of all about this soup though – is the next day! The soup thickens and becomes a most decadent black bean dip. It is perfect on chips, smeared on burritos, or just eaten out of the bowl. Brad calls it “alternative refried beans,” and that is a great description because it is very smooth and creamy, but not refried at all! Enjoy!

Serve the soup in generous bowls (but it is very filling so be careful with the quantity!). Place toppings on the table and let everyone dress their soup as desired.

Part of the reason I wanted to share this post right now though, is the recipe round-up over at The Well Seasoned Cook of legume recipes! Yes my favorites! And of course I knew I had to participate. When she posts the round-up of all the contributions I’ll be linking to it you can be sure. For now though, enjoy my participation – this soup & dip will not disappoint!

Ingredients:

• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 c. red wine or beer
• 3 c. black beans, soaked, rinsed, drained
• 3 jalapeños roasted, peeled and seeded*
• 1 poblano pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded*
• 4 c. stock (chicken, ham, vegetable, or just water)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook the carrots, onion and garlic for 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the wine, (or beer) then bring to a boil, and cook until reduced.
2. Add the beans and reduce heat to medium. Add the jalapeños, poblano, and stock. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, or until the beans are cooked through.
3. Remove from heat and add the lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove half (or more if you want it creamier) of the soup and puree in a blender (preferably a Vita Mix), then return it to the pot and stir well.

*To roast & seed the peppers, place them directly under the broiler and turn often. After about 10 minutes the skin will be blackened all around. Place the peppers in a ziploc bag or a sealing container. Seal the peppers in there for about 15 minutes then remove. The skin should slide off relatively easily. It does not have to be perfect! Cut open carefully and scrape out seeds. Be careful because the capsaicin in the seeds can stay on your hands for hours and sting an eye very easily. Also, please taste the chilies, some can be spicier than expected and you may only want to use one jalapeño. Every chili is a true individual.

Perfect sides for black bean soup or dip:

Cumin Crema: even the most anti-Sour Cream person – aka ME! – will love this crema. The cumin really adds a new dimension.

• 1 T. cumin
• 8 oz. sour cream or crema
• lime juice

1. Mix all ingredients (you can reduce quantities to make a smaller amount). Use lime juice as desired.
2. Crema is best set aside in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld before serving.

Grilled Red Onion “Salsa”

• 1 red onion, sliced into half-inch rounds
• 1-2 T. olive oil

1. Preheat a grill pan or the broiler. Lightly brush the onion with olive oil then place on the grill pan or under the broiler.
2. Cook for several minutes per side until nicely charred. Remove from the grill pan. Chop roughly into chunks and toss well with salt & pepper.

Avocado Relish: make this or your favorite guacamole. You can also substitute tomatillos for the tomatoes.

• 1 avocado, coarsely chopped
• 1 lemon or lime, juiced
• 1-2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 2 T. red onions, minced
• salt & pepper

1. Combine all ingredients, adding lemon juice, salt & pepper as desired.

Sadly this year due to our hectic travel schedule, I wasn’t able to find fresh black eyed peas, but they are treat when you can! When you must – a can of beans will fill need – as they did for me today. This fresh little salad takes only moments to prepare and is delicious all times of the year. Feel free to play with the ingredient amounts and add other veggies you may have around.

And with that we officially welcome 2008 here at The Whole Wheat!

Ingredients:

• 1 can black eyed peas, rinsed
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
• 1-2 T fresh tarragon, finely chopped
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1.5 T olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. If possible refrigerate for a few hours to allow flavors to meld.

I told you that was easy!

Lest you think I’m only full of beans, I’d like to be sure you know I’m full of lentils too! I had a few other recipes I want to post but it seems there is a preponderance of white bean recipes in my repetoire right now. I tend to eat other beans as is. Well, so be it.

Lentils are a type of bean, but they are fast cooking and do not require soaking. This makes them perfect for any weeknight meal, no matter how last minute. On the other hand, they are so colorful and flavorful, you can make them for special meals and enjoy them just as much! Lentils come in nearly every color: red, green, brown, black, yellow, pink – who knows what other colors might be out there! There are more varieties of lentils in the world that we are likely to find in the US.

For this basic lentil dish, I use brown, green, or black lentils. These tend to be firmer and hold their cute little round shape through cooking. I love the yellows, pinks, and reds, but I like those more in creamy & smooth lentil dishes because they tend to melt themselves together on their own.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. brown, green, or black lentils (sorted to remove rocks and rinsed)
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed with peels removed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 celery rib, finely diced
• salt & pepper
• 2 T. extra virgin olive oil (opt.)
• red wine vinegar (opt.)
• chopped parsley (opt.)

1. Put the lentils in a soup pot, cover with 6 cups of water and bring to a boil.
2. When boiling add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, carrot, celery, and 1 1/2 t. of salt.
3. Lower the heat and simmer until tender but retaining their shape, about 25 minutes (though this may vary based on the type of lentils you use).
4. Strain and reserve the broth for another use (soup stock, rice, etc.). Remove the onion, bay leaves, and garlic (these can be removed when eating too if you don’t mind). Season with salt & pepper and enjoy!
5. If desired season with olive oil, a few drops of red wine vinegar, and parsley. I typically forgo this but it can make for a nice presentation.

Original source: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

I can barely say enough good things about this bean spread. It is amazing! The flavors are full and rich, but the spread is creamy and beautiful. Though it is lovely on a table full of appetizers, it would make an equally excellent side dish in lieu of mashed potatoes – people will wonder what you did to the potatoes! This recipe varies slightly from the general guidelines given in Beans 101, but I think you will find the results well worth the modifications.

This dip is fantastic with veggies such as celery & fennel, but is also delicious on warmed flat breads.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. dried navy beans or cannellini (white beans), soaked 4 hours (or overnight) and drained
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed & peeled
• 10 sage leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 whole head of garlic with outermost papery skin removed
• salt & pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 T. chopped thyme

1. Bring the beans to a boil in a large pot with water covering the beans by at least 2 inches. Boil for 10 minutes.
2. Lower the heat and add the 5 cloves of garlic, sage leaves, bay leaves, and 2 T. of olive oil. Simmer, covered, until beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and drain, reserving broth.
3. While the beans are cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub the whole head of garlic with a bit of olive oil. Place it in a small baking dish, add about 1/3 c. water, cover and bake until soft and lightly caramelized, about 45 minutes. Cool the head of garlic then squeeze out the softened garlic.
4. Add the beans, caramelized garlic, the remaining 1 T. olive oil, and 1 t. salt, to a food processor. Add enough bean broth to give the beans a soft, spreadable consistency. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Stir in thyme leaves then serve.

Original source: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

BEEN WEEK, DAY 2

Let’s pretend that you don’t always want beans fresh out of the pot. Come on, I said PRETEND! Making a simple dressing for the beans – basically any beans – will make them Oscar Award ready. Really – could I make this up?!

The first step is to make a fresh pot of beans as described yesterday in Beans 101. Then you are set to fancifie your beans as follows, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe of Beans 101
• 1 large shallot finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T. chopped parsley
• salt & pepper
• lemon wedges

1. Place the warm beans (beans only, not broth) in a bowl. Add the shallot, garlic, olive oil, and parsley. Turn gently with a rubber spatula so as not to break the beans. Taste for seasoning and serve with lemon wedges if desired.

See that wasn’t too hard was it!?

BEEN WEEK, DAY 1

It might sound strange to admit, but I am a certified BA. That does not indicate that I have my Bachelor of Arts (which I do, in Mathematics) but rather that I am a BEAN ADDICT. It is true. Ever since discovering the wonders of Rancho Gordo* at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market, there has been no turning back. They focus on heirloom varieties of beans, and every pound you purchase is *perfect* – no stones, whole, beautiful beans! After exploring several of their varieties, I’ve also begun expanding my horizons and picking up beans at my local and favorite grocery. My bean collection is actually a bit larger than shown above – I suppose I need a few more jars!

The first varietal I tried from them is the Vaquero Bean. They are just amazing looking with their black and white markings. They hold these markings after cooking, though admittedly they do get a bit gray-ish as the bean broth turns black. Oddly they are not in the photo above, but I think that is because I ate them all. They continue to be one of my all time favorites! This picture to the right is courtesy Rancho Gordo but it is better than any I could locate in my archives. These beans have a very full flavor and let’s be honest, they just look cool!

Moving on, another all time favorite of mine is the Yellow Indian Woman Bean which people constantly question me about. Hey folks, I didn’t name them! They are shown here with a butternut squash farro dish and grilled okra -oh the joy of grilled okra, but that is a whole other post! These Yellow Indian Woman beans have the most luxurious flavor and can match up with nearly any veggie extremely well.

Here is a beautiful white bean dish I made in the past. This cannot be replicated with canned beans. Believe me though – it is worth the effort. Actually I think you will find that all dried beans are worth the effort once you try them. The flavors are so full and amazing. We often eat meals with the beans as the main – as shown with the Yellow Indian Woman Beans. When you have beans that full of flavor – you don’t need the meat, I promise!

Hopefully by now I’ve at least tempted you with the joy of dried & heirloom beans! If so, then you are ready for the basic cooking method I follow with nearly all dried beans. You cannot go wrong with this incredibly simple recipe! Though you do need to plan ahead, the beans cook themselves. You just need to soak the beans first – that is the planning step. Here are a few key “tricks” to cooking beans:

1. Soak the beans for about 4-8 hours (or overnight), until beans are about double in volume. Soaking will help dried beans cook more quickly, but it is also rumored to help digestion (because it removes a portion of the complex sugars that cause indigestion). When you are ready to cook, skim off any floating beans (indicating they are immature) then drain and cook in fresh water. (If you are short on time you can “quick soak” the beans. Place them in a pot, cover with a few inches of water then bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover the pot and allow the beans to soak for 1-2 hours. Drain and proceed as usual.)
2. Never add salt to the pot of beans or aromatics until the beans are nearly finished cooking. Adding salt at the beginning or cooking beans in salted water can toughen them. Who wants tough beans!?
3. Always sort through your beans before soaking to remove any stones or dirt. Simply place them on a baking sheet before soaking to sort them.

All right, ready to cook some beans!? Let’s go!

Ingredients:

• 1 c. of beans, cleaned, sorted, and soaked as above
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small onion, finely diced, or can be quartered if you prefer to remove after cooking
• 1/2 – 1 carrot, finely diced (optional – and can be left in larger chunks if you prefer to remove)
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced (optional – and can be left in larger chunks if you prefer to remove)
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed with peel removed (optional)
• 1 t. olive oil

1. In a medium pot sauté the onion over medium until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, and garlic if using and continue to cook until the onion develops nice brown color, about 5 more minutes.
2. Drain the beans, add to the pot, then cover with 6c. fresh water. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes then lower heat to a simmer. You can partially cover while they simmer. The slower & lower they cook, the nicer your beans will typically be – more whole beans with no broken skins!
3. Depending on the type of bean you are using, they will cook between 30 minutes and an hour. Start tasting them around 30 minutes, cooking until they are tender. Add about 1 1/2 t. of salt when your beans are just nearly finished – usually about 5 minutes before removing from the heat.
4. Serve beans and enjoy! See – that was fun wasn’t it?!

*Note: you can also order online from Rancho Gordo, but sorry friends, it is US only right now.

This dish is a great way to use up that spinach sitting in your fridge that won’t last much longer but you hate to waste it. Oh wait, is that just my fridge? The seasoning & spices could be changed to suit really any flavor profile, so mix it up and have fun. This comes together very quickly – perfect for a last minute dinner or side dish.

• 1/2 onion, cut into thin slices
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp of cumin, or to taste
• ~6 c. fresh spinach
• 1/2 can chickpeas, rinsed

1. In a large pan that has lid, sautee the onion & garlic in olive oil until transparent over medium heat.
2. Add the spinach, tomato, cumin, pinch of salt, and drained chickpeas. The pot will be very full, simply cover and let it cook. After a minute or two, open the pot and stir well. Recover and contiue to cook, about 5 minutes until spinach is nicely cooked.
3. Season to taste with salt, pepper, potentially a bit of lemon, hot sauce, etc.

At a recent farmer’s market I was tempted by the samples and discovered an amazing sun-dried tomato hummus, made by the lovely folks at East & West Gourmet Afghan Foods. I devoured the container I brought home – I think Brad got to taste some, but maybe not very much. I kept the lid with the ingredient list so that I could try my hand at this dip. Today I cooked a huge batch of garbanzo beans, got some sun-dried tomatoes ready – and here it is, delicious hummus – healthy, fresh, & fast (if you use canned beans – slower but so worth it if you cook up your own batch of chickpeas).

The dip would be perfect with veggies, pita wedges, a spread on a sandwich, or many other inventions I am sure.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• juice of half a lemon
• pinch of salt
• 1.5 c cups garbanzo beans (or 1 can)
• 1/2 t tahini

1. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a small dish. Cover with boiling water and let them soften, about 15-30 minutes. Remove and coarsely chop. Place the tomato in a small food processor bowl.
2. In a small saute pan, roast the garlic cloves. Flip them often until the papery covering blackens and the clove is soft. Squeeze out the flesh and add to the food processor. Add the lemon juice and salt to the food processor also.
3. Run the food procesor until everything is finely chopped and well combined.
4. Add the beans and tahini to the food processor. Process again until the mixture is nicely combined but has some nice chunkiness. Taste and adjust seasonings.