Cooking with Dried Beans

PART ONE

Washing & soaking

• Always wash beans thoroughly & remove foreign objects & bad beans (if they look different from the rest – throw them out!)
• Cover with cold water & let them stand overnight in a cool place
• For each cup of dried beans, add 3 cups of cold water & 1 teaspoon salt & stand overnight (the beans, not you)
• Kidney beans, they must be boiled rapidly for 10 minutes to remove toxins from the skin, then simmered, very important.

PART TWO

Simmering

Now you need to simmer the beans until tender.

• Use fresh water . Add a tablespoon of oil to stop them foaming all over the place.
• They are done when the skins begin to split & a bean is tender all the way through when you bite into it.
• The time taken depends on the type of bean & how dry it is but as a general guide:

Baby limas & butter beans 30 to 60 minutes, Kidney, pink, cranberry & pinto beans 2 ½ to 3 hours,

Black-eyed peas 30 to 50 minutes, Chickpeas about 90 mins, Split peas (no need to soak) 40 to 60 minutes, Whole dried green peas 60 to 70 minutes, Lentils (no need to soak) 30 to 40 minutes, Black beans 2 ½ hours.

You don`t need to stand over them or stir them much so just leave them on as low as you can & go off & do something more interesting.

Some are suitable to cook in a pressure-cooker – kidney beans, 5 to 7 minutes (quite a difference), but because they will foam a lot, be very careful or they will end up on the ceiling ( I know, I`m a pessimist!).

Chickpeas are especially good in a pressure cooker as they can go in without soaking first so are greatly speeded up.

Although long slow cooking at a very low temperature is the best method a slow-cooker is not really suitable as the liquid needs to cook off but you could try & leave the lid off towards the end. However, the flavour will not develop the same so I wouldn’t bother.

• Fuel can be saved by turning off the gas/electric after the rapid boil. Put a lid on the pan. Reboil every 20 mins until cooked-switching off in between.

PART THREE

Recipes for beans may say dry or canned but you can use either, of course.

To convert:

The ratio of Dry Beans to Canned & Cooked

1 can of beans (15 oz) = Half cup dry, uncooked beans = 1+ half cups cooked beans
1 pound (16 oz) dry beans = 2 cups dry, uncooked beans = 6 cups cooked beans = 4 cans of beans (15 ounces each)
1 part dry beans = 3 parts cooked beans

• In general a 500g bag of dried bean produces approx 1500g
• (1.5 kilos)of cooked beans.

And so to recipes:-

LENTIL CAKES

You do not have to soak lentils & split peas but, if you have time, do so, overnight is best.
A good use for leftover lentils

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cooked lentils, drained
• Half cup fresh spinach, finely chopped, or an alternative
  ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup cornmeal or cornflour, divided in half
• 1 tbsp olive or coconut oil
• Salt to taste
• (Optional– add half cup of tinned salmon, flaked to the mix)
  Method
• Beat eggs in a bowl, add lentils, spinach & garlic powder & mix.
• Add in half the cornflour, mix.
• On a plate put the remaining cornflour for coating.
• Put some oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
• Divide the lentil mix into 4 patties, coat on both sides & place in pan. Fry until browned on both sides.
  Leftovers may be refrigerated or frozen & reheated.

SPLIT PEA SOUP – SLOW COOKER VERSION

• 6 cups of water or stock
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups diced ham (optional)
•  2 carrots, peeled & sliced
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Half pound green or yellow split peas, washed
• Half tsp cumin
• Salt to taste
  MethodI would cook a piece of boiling bacon or similar in with this, instead of the ham – that way you get the flavour & can use the meat for another meal or sandwiches. Soak the bacon for an hour first & discard the water to reduce the salt. Butter beans are a good alternative to the peas.

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 -5 hours, on low for 7-8 hours. Remove bay leaves & serve.