Basic Beans Recipe
Preparing dry beans grown by local farmers isn’t as complicated as it seems. Cooking up a pot one evening will set you up to top salads, fill burritos, mix into rice bowls, stir into a quick soup, and more throughout the rest of the week!
One cup of dry beans yields three cups of cooked beans; since a one pound bag of beans is approximately two cups, it will yield a six-cup pot of beans. At its most basic, cooking beans is about simmering them until they are soft. Using broth adds a punch of flavors; from there, you can do some fine-tuning. A few things to consider:
To soak, or not: Fresh beans like these cook more quickly than older ones; and these will take between 30 minutes (if soaked) and 2.5 hours (if un-soaked) to cook. Soaking beans speeds up the cooking process; if you want to reduce the cooking time soak your beans, but we suggest not to fret it. If you do want to shorten cooking time, soak beans overnight by covering them completely with water (there should be about 2-3 inches of water above the line of beans to account for the beans slightly expanding as they soak). The next morning, first thing, strain the beans, discard the soak water, and rinse the beans (this washes out the phytic acids that may cause gas in some people!).
Prep with mirepoix: If desired, get a classic mirepoix going. This consists of onion, garlic, celery, diced carrot, pepper flakes, and broken bay leaves in a fat, such as olive or sunflower oil. Heat until aromatic or translucently luscious.
Cook beans: Once aromatic, add beans and cover with at least two inches of water/broth. Bring to a boil and leave it there for about 10 minutes to let the beans know who’s boss. Then set to simmer, adding pre-heated water if and as necessary to keep the beans covered throughout cooking. There is some thinking that adding cold water will cause the beans to harden.
When the beans are soft through and through, it’s time to add salt and acid, such as tomatoes, lime or vinegar. Not before, as they may cause the beans to rebel. Let the now salted/acidified beans sit in the broth for at least 10 minutes to take it all in. Overnight, things get even better!
Voila! Beans done! Do not discard the broth; use any extra for soup, dirty rice, bread, and more!
Source: Next Step Produce
