Stayin' alive

[Oldsarge]

I keep reading that people who eat lots of legumes and nuts live longer than those who don't. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't like legumes or don't know what to do with them. So hoping to keep the DB crew around as long as possible, I offer the following:


Tiger Bean Soup Extraordinaire

2 cups of dried beans (pintos will do if you don’t grow your own tigers) soaked over night
4 slices apple smoked bacon chopped
1 medium onion minced
3 large carrots, ½” chop
1 large swiss chard stem, minced (reserve leaves)
1 Tbsp. Flat leaf parsley, minced
½ lb. smoked sausage sliced thin
6 cups ham stock
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
Fresh ground black pepper
Apple cider vinegar to taste

Drain the beans and put into a large pot. Brown the bacon and remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Sauté the onion, carrot, parsley and chard in the bacon grease until the onion is translucent. Pour the vegetables in with the beans and add the ham stock, sausage and garlic. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1-2 hours until the beans are tender. Correct seasoning with gr. Pepper and vinegar. Serve with hearty dark bread and stout red wine.



The Mrs. wasn't feeling well and wasn't hungry and still thought it was great.

 

[BatRay]

Do you soak your beans, or do you have some means of de-gassing them? I made white chili, and while the flavor was amazing, it also had some, erm, side effects

 

[Oldsarge]

I cover the dry beans with 3" of water, bring them to a boil, let them boil for 2 minutes and turn off the heat. Let them sit for a couple of hours and pour off the water. For most people, problem solved. Now just in case you have an exceptionally excitable set in intestinal flora, get a product in your local drug store named Beano. Silly name, effective product. Works with cabbage, too.

 

[E-P]

I eat a lot of beans with couscous and quinoa, then put in some fried and fresh vegetables and you got really quick and healthy lunch for work. Soya is always good/healthy/cheap alternative for mince in, for example, chili sin carne


Edit: Just realised that this sub-forum is under spreafishing!

 

[BatRay]

An overnight soak worked for some Great Northern Beans recently. While it didn't entirely solve the, ahem, issue, it was a vast improvement over the last time I made them. I'll try your suggestion next, Sarge