Note: During this time, I am trying to post more regularly in the hopes that in my small way, I can help people cope with a crisis. As I usually do – through food. I am trying to fulfill the requests for pantry-focused meals that are wholesome to the mind and the body. Wishing everyone all the very best from NYC!
I spoke to one of my best friends today. She is a mother, a doctor – so incredibly busy, and we have been talking for a long time about recipes that are healthy and doable that she could make for her family instead of ordering takeout. We had been chatting about the possibilities of my Salvatore Beans for about a year, and this week I finally posted the recipe, and finally she was going to make it. But alas, COVID food shopping struck. Her Instacart delivery arrived with a bag of dried black beans instead of cannellini. I know everyone is in the same boat right now. You can’t get exactly what you’re looking for, or you’re looking for something to do with what you’ve got.
I get it and we can make it work! Because as I have said, when it comes to cooking beans, you just need to know the formula. 1 pound of dried beans, soaked overnight. 6 cups of cold water. 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt. Simmer this, covered, for 90 minutes to 2 hours, and you have fantastic beans. With white beans (cannellini, “small white”, Great Northern, navy), I add olive oil, garlic, and rosemary for Salvatore Beans. But I use the same formula to make my fiesta and siesta black beans – so named because they taste like a party but I always eat too much, so I need to lie down after I eat them.
These really are the little black dress of beans, perfumed with cumin and coriander and cinnamon, and I accessorize them according to my mood. Here, what I could get last week was fresh store-bought mango and mint salsa and a sliced ripe avocado. So bright and uplifting. I often to queso fresco or feta. Plain Greek yogurt. Pico di gallo. Crumbled tortilla chips. Sliced radishes. Add rice if you need a good solid carb foundation (now more than ever!). Eat well and be well, friends!
Fiesta and Siesta Black Beans
makes a pot of beans
INGREDIENTS
1 pound of dried black beans
1 clove garlic
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper (optional), seeded and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
A pinch of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
METHOD
The night before you want to make this, place the beans in a large bowl and cover with one to two inches of water. Drain and rinse the beans just before you want to use them.
Place the garlic, onion, and pepper in a food processor (or use a stick blender like I do) to mash them to a pulp.
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the mashed up vegetables and the cumin and coriander and cinnamon and sweat for 3 – 5 minutes, until translucent and fragrant. Add the drained and rinsed beans, the salt, and 6 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until the beans are tender but not mushy.
I love to top these with crumbled queso fresco (or feta in a pinch), sliced ripe avocado, pico di gallo or in this case, mango-mint salsa, torn cilantro leaves, even cool Greek yogurt. Sometimes I serve with rice.
