Recipe remix

Last night, we made the Coconut Rice with Edamame and Sweet Potato recipe, as seen here. We didn't have any edamame, so this time I used green beans from our CSA and the recipe still turned out delicious.

I like to point out when recipes can use a variety of on-hand vegetables and still turn out well since we are always getting a revolving cast of veggies from our CSA. If anyone has made any of our recipes with substitutions, please post them! I'd love to try them.

Another word of warning

The other evening, I made a chicken chili with red kidney beans. The beans had been soaked all night (8+ hours in a pot on the stove). I then put the rehydrated beans in the crock-pot, thinking they would be cooked thoroughly all day. I was wrong.

I bit into my first bite of the chili for dinner. The beans were hard. I shrugged it off, thinking that perhaps I just had gotten a bad spoonful. By the 3rd spoonful of hard beans, I realized they had not been cooked through. And then I panicked.

I remembered something I had read awhile back about the toxicity of uncooked kidney beans, red in particular. So I googled for the better part of the next half hour to see how bad this would be. Luckily, we're not talking deadly toxic. Just extremely unpleasant toxic. Symptoms of poisoning usually set on fast (between 1 to 3 hours) and are usually gone 3 to 4 hours after that. The most common symptoms are extreme nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The kicker? Some sites say as little as 3 ingested uncooked kidney beans can bring on symptoms. And I had definitely had more than that.

Luckily for me, I only had a slight case of nausea, and nothing worse. We now think that the kidney beans may have gotten mildly cooked in our crock pot, killing off some of the bad chemicals, but not all. So my recommendation to you? Don't throw rehydrated beans in a crock pot and assume they will get cooked. It's not a risk you want to take.

Most comprehensive site for red kidney bean poisoning: FoodReference.com

Creole Hoppin' John

Apologies for the lack of updates. We both had a pretty busy month, but we should be back to our regularly scheduled updates now.

adapted from Culinate.com's Creole Hoppin' Jean

Serves 6 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 1 hour • Active cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 cup black-eyed peas, sorted, soaked 8 hours, drained, and rinsed
½ cup short-grain brown rice
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely diced shallots
⅛ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. chile powder
¼ tsp. red chile flakes
⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried oregano
2 cups vegetable stock
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
~ Coarse sea salt
~ Freshly ground white pepper


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 4 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender. Drain beans and set aside.

3. In a separate pan, boil 1.5 cups water. Add short-grain brown rice, return to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 20 minutes with a lid on. Stir occasionally.

4. Heat 1 TBSP oil in a skillet. Add the shallots, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chile powder, red chile flakes, cayenne pepper, thyme, and oregano. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the shallots are soft, about 3 minutes.

5. Add vegetable stock, tomatoes, and 1 tsp. salt; bring to a boil. Add rice and black-eyed peas to the sauce and stir well. Return to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and let sit with lid on, approximately 10 minutes.

Notes: This is a spicy dish associated with the Carolinas, but is eaten throughout the South. It is often eaten on New Year's Day and is thought to bring the eater good luck. If you aren't a fan of spicy foods, I'd recommend skipping this one.

Coconut Rice with Edamame and Sweet Potato

Found somewhere on the internet.

Serves 4 (main dish servings)
Passive cooking time: 25 minutes • Active cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 tsp canola oil
1 cup peeled and diced sweet potato
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 tblsp minced fresh ginger
10 oz bag shelled edamame soy beans
1 1/4 cup jasmine rice
15 oz can coconut milk
1 1/2 tblsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional)


Steps:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-low. Add the sweet potato, scallions, and ginger and saute until the scallions have softened.

2. Stir in the edamame, rice, coconut milk, lime juice, salt and water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed (approximately 15 minutes).

3. Use a fork to fluff the rice, then stir in the lime zest. If desired, served with peanuts on top.


Notes: We're not quite sure what the origins of this dish are. We surmised it may be Caribbean, with the coconut milk, lime, and sweet potato flavors. This is a rich and delicious dish, with all the flavors complementing each other well. I will say, be sure you purchase shelled edamame, as we spent quite a bit of time shelling our edamame. We also appreciated that this recipe only uses one pan to cook all the ingredients. Very tasty!

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

adapted from More with Less' Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas

Serves 8 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 lb. dried pigeon peas, pinto, or kidney beans
4 cups water
3/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup fat
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 tblsp. capers with juice
1 tblsp. salt
2 cups uncooked rice (I used short grain brown)
6 cups bean liquid and water


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 4 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender. Drain beans and set aside, reserving the remaining bean liquid.

3. Saute vegetables in 1/4 cup fat (I used olive oil). When veggies are tender, add tomato paste, spices, rice, and liquid. Stir well.

4. Cook at moderate heat 15 minutes. Stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until most of liquid is absorbed and rice is fully cooked (approximately 25 minutes).

Notes: All I can say about this recipe is: DELICIOUS! This recipe makes a lot of food. We have been eating it for lunch and dinner for days and I'm still not sick of it. It's strange, because it's so similar to other recipes we've made, but this one really is the best. I highly recommend it!

A word of warning

When I say to sort through your dried beans before rinsing and soaking them, I'm not joking around. These are actual pebbles found among our dried beans. Just imagine expecting to bite into a cooked pinto bean and instead chomping down on that! That would be an immediate visit to the dentist! Keep this picture in your head the next time you're considering not sorting through your dried beans before soaking.

Spiced Chickpeas with Greens and Quinoa Pilaf

Once again, I'm going to refer you to the Rice of Life blog, for his recipe of Spiced Chickpeas with Greens and Quinoa Pilaf. We happened to have most of the ingredients on hand, and with a few small substitutions (spinach for the swiss chard, and dried cranberries for the raisins), voila, dinner! I highly recommend this recipe. It was simple and tasty and held up well for leftovers. Have I convinced you yet to add Rice of Life to your blog reader?

Tunisian Red Bean Stew

adapted from the International Vegetarian Union's Tunisian Yam and Red Bean Stew

Serves 10 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 4-6 hours on high, 8-10 on low • Active cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup small dried red beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked 8 hours (or 1 can small red beans)
1 large onion, chopped
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced or 1 tsp ground ginger
2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
3 cups vegetable stock or water
2 large tomatoes, diced or 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1-3 jalapeno pepper, minced (adjust this to your preference)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans.

2. Add rehydrated beans and all ingredients except peanut butter to a crock pot, and mix well.

3. Cover and cook either 4 to 6 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low. After cooking, make sure potatoes and beans are tender.

4. About 10 minutes before serving, ladle some of the stew juices into a bowl and mix in the peanut butter. Stir well. Add mixture back to crockpot.


Notes: This recipe originally calls for yams. As DH does not care for yams, we substituted potatoes. This stew came out a little thinner than I like, so next time around, I would add only 2 cups of liquid. The stew turns out surprisingly spicy, to adjust the spices if you don't like spicy. No rice in this recipe, but it could easily be served over rice. We served this with corn tortillas on the side.

Historical context: Tunisia is the northern most country on the African continent and benefits greatly from its trade with Europe. Tunisian food combines Arabic, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and French influences. In Tunisia, it is said that the amount of love a wife feels for her husband is measured by the amount of hot pepper she puts in the meal. So if you can handle the spice, add some peppers for your spouse/partner!

5/26 EDIT: On subsequent servings of this stew, I found I grew very tired of eating it. Not a good sign for me! I doubt I will be making this one again. You've been forewarned.

Mexican Beans and Rice

adapted from Rice of Life's Mexican Rice and Beans

Serves 4 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 red onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cups dried pinto beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked
2 cups brown rice
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
cilantro, chopped
wedge of lime
1/2 avocado, sliced
salt to taste


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 6 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender.

3. Saute onion in a little bit of oil until soft. Add green bell peppers and saute until soft. Add pinto beans, spices, and tomato sauce. Stir until everything is well mixed and there is a nice sauce for the beans. If necessary add small amounts of water to thin the sauce (in 1/4 cup increments). Add salt to taste and adjust spices, as necessary.

4. Serve over brown rice. Garnish with cilantro, lime wedge, and avocado.

Notes: This recipe sort of tasted to me like what pinto beans and mexican rice would taste like if you mixed them together. Very comforting and easy. We served them with tortillas on the side.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

adapted from the American Feast's Sustainable Food Blog Red Beans and Rice

Serves 6 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 tsp liquid smoke
2 cups Dry Red Kidney Beans
3-4 Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons Crisco Shortening or butter
6 Celery Stalks, Diced
1 Large Spanish Onion, Diced
1 Bunch Scallions, Diced
3 Green Peppers, Diced
1 Tablespoon Dried Thyme Leaves
3/4 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
Salt to Taste
2 Cups Uncle Ben's or Carolina Rice
3 Cups Water


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 6 cups water. Add liquid smoke and bay leaves.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender.


3. Saute celery, onion, and peppers in Crisco or butter until soft. Add to simmering beans. Add in remaining spices and let simmer an additional half hour.

4. While beans are simmering, bring 3 cups water and 2 cups white rice to a boil in a small saucepan.

5. When beans and rice have finished, serve 1 cup beans over a half cup of rice. Add salt as desired.

Notes: This recipe originally calls for simmering the beans with a ham hock. As we eat largely vegetarian, I omitted that step, and instead included the teaspoon of liquid smoke. This recipe comes out a little spicy from the cayenne and pepper, so if you are sensitive to spice, consider using less.

Historical context: Red beans and rice is a staple of Cajun cooking. Doing the research for the recipe, I learned that Cajun territory encompasses Louisiana south of US Highway 190 and west of the Mississippi River, while Creole is considered the New Orleans area specifically. This recipe features the "Cajun trinity" of onion, bell pepper, and celery. These three items are the base seasoning mixture for most recipes such as gumbos, jambalayas, etouffees, sauces, chili and stews.