That one sounds very tasty, Gardenlad.

Here's a suggestion which is too simple to qualify as a recipe. It's just a twist on some regular cooking which creates something different.

Add green beans to a potato salad. Cut the beans in approx. 1" pieces, cook them briefly, cool them and include them in the salad. Potatoes and green beans complement each other nicely.

Jim

That they do, Jim.

Maybe my use of "recipe" was too strong. Nothing wrong with people posting approaches and techniques. I figure if they do, all of us will learn new ways of using beans on the table. And that's really what I had in mind.

Jim, you could cal it a "little twist" for a good potato salad recipe. Oh, and it sounds good! :) Arum

I just boil my beans like crazy, don't put nothin in em, and eat em. G-o-o-d!!! :) Arum

Fresh black eye peas, water, a pot, some heat, a bowl, and a spoon.

I see you have your mojo workin! :) Yeah, and some rice now and then with em is really good too! Blackeyed peas and rice, yum! :) arum

Blackeyed peas and rice cooked together, that's 'Hopping John'. Good eating!

I belong to the Garfield School of Cooking- everything is improved by cheese.

*Beans, cooked (or any other vegetable or combination of vegetables, leftovers, casseroles)
*Chicken cooked, in chunks (or other meat or turkey Italian sausage- I usually just use a small amount of leftovers; or omit)
*Lemon Pepper, Cheese (Cheddar, Mozzarella, Provolone, etc)
*Broil until cheese bubbles and browns. Yum.

Gardenlad, What do you do with the toasted poppy seed that you set aside to cool? You never said whether or when to add them back or nibble them as a side dish.
All beans dry, shelly or green are improved with a chunk of ham hock thrown into the pot and boiled with them. They are also best with raw onion and southern style cornbread.( That's no sugar and little or no flour,)

"All beans dry, shelly or green are improved with a chunk of ham hock thrown into the pot and boiled with them. They are also best with raw onion and southern style cornbread.( That's no sugar and little or no flour,)"

Amen.

Jim

>What do you do with the toasted poppy seed that you set aside to cool? You never said whether or when to add them back or nibble them as a side dish. Sure I did, Ted:

"Transfer (the toasted poppy seeds) to a bowl and let cool. Add the oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, sallot, salt & pepper. Whisk until well blended."

All those ingredients are added to the bowl with the poppy seeds, you see.

Nice to know that somebody actually read the recipe, though. :>)

When I make hummus, I normally cook up a pound bag of dried garbanzos. It's cheap that way and not much work. I get a big enough batch to satisfy me for a while.

Suppose I really went into production and tripled the recipe. Could I freeze a few portions for future use? Seems like it would freeze well. Anyone have experience freezing it?

Jim

I've never frozen it, Jim. It doesn't last long enough around here to matter.

I would be concerned about the tahini separating, though. What you need to do is just try a little---maybe a cup or even less--to see what happens. Leave it in the freezer at least a week, because if the tahini does separate, time might be one of the factors.

Jimster, yes they are good for short-time freezing if they don't get frost burn. I use Chinese take-out soup containers, plastic with tight-fitting lids, for storage in the freezer. But the beans must be covered well with liquid to avoid freezer burn, so cook them with plenty water. They tend to soak up a lot of liquid while cooling. Any exposed beans inside the closed container will dry out in the freezer. I love garbanzo beans and make hummus often. It's a perfect snack when hunger gnaws while cooking dinner.

Marquette, I think he's talking about freezing the hummus, rather than the cooked garbanzos.

I agree that cooked garbanzos freeze well. They also can be canned, which, for me, makes more sense from a storage point of view. And the fact is, if you have the cooked beans at hand, mixing up fresh hummus is no big deal.

But the open question is, can hummus be frozen without loss of quality? And my answer to that is I dunno.

Gardenlad's suggestion of trying some small scale experiments makes sense (Don't know why I couldn't think of that myself. Thanks gardenlad). If I find a problem with the tahini separating, or other problem, I could just freeze the pureed garbanzos. It would then be easy to stir in the other ingredients to make up a batch. The main idea is to do the bulk of the work and clean-up for several batches in one fell swoop. Yes, I am getting terribly lazy.

I believe it's good to have lots of beans in the diet (besides which, I like them) and hummus is one more way of doing that.

Jim

Jim, I've been reading Rosemary Barron's "Flavors of Greece" (I read cookbooks the way others read novels). In it there is sort of a Greek version of hummus you might like:

Rivithosalata
(Garbanzo Beans & Garlic Salata)

1 1/2 cups dried garbanzo beans, soaked overnight in water to cover
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander or 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tbls Kalamata olive oil
Strained juice of 2 lemons

for serving:
Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tbls dried rigani (Greek oregano) crumbled
1 tsp paprika

Drain the beans and place in a large saucepan with cold water to cover. Bring slowly to a boil, drain, rinse. Rinse out the saucepan, return beans to pan, and add cold water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, recuce the heat, cover, and genly simmer for 50 minutes or until so0ft. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and a few whole beans for garnish.

Place the beans, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender container. With the machine running, gradually add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and most of the lemon juice. Add more salt and pepper and the remainign lemon juice if desired and process until smooth and creamy. For a thinner consistency gradually add some or all of the reserved liquid (if you plan to store the salata add all the reserved liquid---it will thicken on standing).

Spread on a platter and sprinkle with the parsley, regani and reserved whole berans. Combine the parprika and remaining tbls olive oil and sprinkle over the salata.

To store, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to two days.

Gardenlad,
"I read cookbooks the way others read novels" lol. I thought I was the only weirdo that did that!(Though right now I am actually reading "In My Garden" by Christopher Lloyd.) I love reading them especially older ones, sort of like history through food. Well sometimes they really are like "The President's Cookbook."
Remy

>I thought I was the only weirdo that did that!Nah, Remy, there are lots of us. You bump into others on cooking forums, and in the dusty stacks at the library, and at out-of-the way ethinic food stores.

Kind of like a secret society. All we need is a handshake and a funny hat.

"sort of like history through food?

Sort of? Sort of? Speaking as a food historian, I resemble that remark.

Older cookbooks are history, as they provide a glimpse into the mores and lifestyles of bygone people. Read, for instance, "The Virgina Housewife," and you learn a lot more about early 19th century life than just how they cooked.

Read cookery books from the 1950s and you learn about the birth of convenience foods; how they came about, and how they came to dominate society.

Then there are the food books that are, literally, history books. Check out any of Mark Kurlansky's books, such as "Salt," or "Cod." The first is a history of the world as told through the only rock we eat; the second a biography of the world told as the story of a fish.

Read Molly O'Neill's "New York Cookbook," and you can't help gain a feel for the successive waves of immigrants that shaped America, and their cultural as well as culinary contributions.

Read.....well, y'all get the idea.

Sort of, indeed! ;>)

Lol, I guess I will have more conviction in my remarks about my cookbook collection now : )
Oh, I do have some old good ones. A really neat book(contains all kind of stuff not just cooking) I got in a box lot at a local auction awhile back is "The Scientific American Cyclopedia of Receipts, Notes and Queries" from the late 1800's. Another interesting one from the 1800's that I have is "Three Meals a Day." "An American Woman's Cookbook" edition from WWII is an unusual read with extras like tips for the food rationing that was happening at the time.
That's the great thing about the computer. I don't think I would of ever had someone tell me they were a food historian otherwise! I'm just a food geek, lol. : )
Remy

Salads are good made with any kind of beans, alone or with potatoes or greens.
--------
Simplest way we like green beans: season cooked beans with a little olive oil and crushed garlic or a bit of garlic powder/salt and a pinch of black pepper if you like; sprinkle with Parmesan ----------
Serve Pasta Sauce over cooked green beans, sprinkle with garlic powder/salt and parmesan.
----------
Black Eye Peas with cut green beans (canned or fresh) with Turkey Sausage and chopped (leftover) baked Turkey; chicken broth-organic,low-fat; seasonings:garlic powder, Paul Prudhomme's Magic( No Salt )Seasoning, Morton's Nature Seasoning, Tony Chachere's and any you prefer..with rice, yummy. Kind of a Healthy Jambalaya.
First you don't make a roux, you saute chopped seasoning mix -which we in New Orleans area have packaged in the produce dept-mostly onion, bit of shallots, celery, bell pepper, garlic and parsley, add remaining ingredients and cook over med-low heat til done, we love it.

Bea

Planning on planting bunch of pole beans-especially purple and yard long, plus black-eye-peas.

My favorite way to cook green beans is to steam them as usual, then brown sliced almonds in butter and add to the beans. Top off with salt and pepper.

I also like them steamed, but adding the juice from 1/2 a lime and salt and pepper.

Then there's the recipe my roomate in college gave me:
3/4 lb green beans
1/3 c. onions (the recipe says green onion, but I use reg.)
2T snipped parsely
2 cloves garlic
1T red wine vinegar
1tsp dijon mustard
3T olive oil (I use 1 1/2)
- cook the beans and onion in a small amount of boiling, salted water, covered for 5-6 min
- in a mixing bowl, combine parsley, chopped garlic, vinegar and mustard, gradually wisk in oil
- add dash of salt and pepper, stir
- add to drained beans and onion.

I can't wait to try gardenlad's poppyseed recipe!

yummmmmm....green beans. Is it spring yet??? Bean planting time sure seems a long way off (especially since I'm not in California anymore)
Bellatrix

I've got tons of beans recipes. Here's a favorite for snap beans:

Put water on to boil for pasta, with a Tb salt added
Cube some potatoes
snap some beans into longish pieces (maybe 2")
Put a good-sized dollop of pesto into a big pasta bowl
Italians use buckwheat pasta, but regular spaghetti will work
Boil potato cubes until nearly done, add pasta to the water. When both are nearly done, add snaps. I prefer everything a bit al dente.
Drain all, mix with pesto, add fresh pepper & salt to taste, & grated romano cheese, and enjoy!

A shell bean recipe.

Cecamariti

1/4 extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 slices stale country-style bread, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, whole but crushed
1 small hot red pepper, or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2/3 pound fresh cannellini or borlotto or other good shell bean, boiled with a bay leaf until tender
1 lb broccoli rabe, steamed and chopped into thirds
Sea salt
about 3 Tb water

Pour oil into heavy saute pan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook until fragrant and light brown, then remove from oil. Turn up heat to medium-high, add bread cubes and red pepper. Saute bread cubes until evenly browned all sides. Add the cooked beans, broccoli rabe, salt, the reserved garlic, and the 3 Tb of water. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently, for about 15 mins. Toss with a little extra olive oil and salt to taste, then enjoy!

Adapted from "La Cucina della Nonna", great cookbook of Italian rustic cooking. The name "Cecamariti" means "blind Husbands -- supposedly husbands eat so much of this, they go blind. Mine stumbles about after eating it...

Don't know if anyone is reading these, but I'll keep posting them from time to time.

Another shell bean recipe, a form of the Mexican dish "Chilaquiles"

Chop an onion, 1 cup of tomato, good size bunch of spinach or chard. Shred 8 oz of good cheddar cheese. Take out a bottle of medium hot salsa and a bag of baked tortilla chips.

Steam greens and send aside in a colander to drain excess water. Meanwhile, saute onions in 4 Tb of oil, add chopped tomato and your shell beans. Let cook on medium heat until shell beans are firm but cooked. Then add 1 cup of corn, cook for another 5 mins. Turn off heat, add 2 Tb of fresh lime juice, salt & pepper and set aside.

Take a big casserole dish and brush lightly with oil. Take bag of baked tortilla chips,roughly crush about 1/3 of the bag and cover bottom of casserole completely. Cover chips with all of the bean mixture. Top that with half of the cheese. spread spinach over the cheese. Spread half jar of salsa over greens. Then crush more chips, enough to cover entire casserole. Spread rest of salsa on chips, top with rest of cheese. Bake casserole 30 mins at 350 degrees.

Fast, easy bean & pasta recipe for 2 people.

Saute 1 clove garlic with 7-8 fresh sage leaves in extra virgin olive oil. Then add 1 cup of shell beans (preferrably cannellini), 3/4 jar of good tomato sauce, and 1 cup water. Cook until beans are soft, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Meawhile, bring pot of water + 1 Tb salt to boil, and add shells or rotini to the water when bean mixture is ready. When pasta is al dente, drain and add to bean mixture over high heat for 2 mins so pasta absorbs pasta flavor. Put in bowl, sprinkle with grated romano cheese, and eat happily.

Bella, I've forgotten to mention sprinkle with toasted nuts, usually pecans or almonds, as I sprinkle on lots of dishes, especially veggies. Will try sauteing almonds in butter soon, plus some other recipes.
Risotto is good with green or any beans, peas, corn etc..sprinkled with toasted almonds/nuts.

Anyone has a recipe for mashed cooked (dry) beans (any legume) FRITTERS?

GB

Graanieb, I have a black bean burger in one of my cookbooks, and I had a fabulous pinto and cornmeal croquettte sort of thing at a veggie restaurant a few weeks ago. I'll see what I can dig up for you.

In broth for a long time, then stir around in a frying pan with bacon.

Wow! these are all great tips/recipes! Here's one that I really enjoy:

STIR FRY GREEN BEANS

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
* 1 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
* 3/4 teaspoon sesame seeds
* 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
* 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
* Dash pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small skillet, saute beans in canola oil for 5 minutes. Add
   the soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil if desired, garlic powder,
   onion powder and pepper. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until
   beans are tender and evenly coated with soy sauce mixture. Serve
   immediately.

I finally got around to making cassoulet. Cassoulet is French method of slowly baking beans, including an assortment of meats. One aspect that appeals to me, but is not found in all recipes, is formation of a crust from bread crumbs and the bean liquid. The crust is broken 3 to 7 times during baking to allow juices to rise and combine with the crumbs. Delicious!

Tairbais is the bean traditionally used in cassoulet. I used Tarbais grown in my garden. It resembles a small pole lima, although it is not a lima. I plan to grow a good supply this summer. Other dry white beans can be used to make cassoulet.

Although it was my first, somewhat feeble, attempt at this elaborate dish, I was very happy with the result. Practice will make it even better.

Below is a link to a recipe, not the one I used but similar. Actually, I deviated a lot from the recipe. I think it is not necessary to have the exact ingredients, just get the gist of the method right. Good stuff!

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Cassoulet Recipe

The recipe on the link below is an excellent and easy one. If you don't live near a Wegmans, the basting oil is grapeseed oil(olive oil can be substituted) infused with garlic, thyme, and parsley. The Cleaned and Cut Beans mentioned are just green beans ready to cook/microwave in a bag. Regular green beans cooked is all you need for the recipe.
Remy

Here is a link that might be useful: Green Beans Amandine

I just saw a neat way to steam beans and other vegetables on the Food Network show "Rescue Chef".

Per Food Network:
"Alternatively, place the green beans in a colander. Place the colander on top of boiling potatoes to steam until tender, occasionally turning to cook evenly, about 3 to 4 minutes."

They were boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes. Good idea to put colander on top of another container that is already boiling.

Dean

Along the same lines, some automatic rice cookers now come with an aluminum steam basket which fits right on top of the cooker. Green beans take less time to steam, so I wait until the rice has cooked for a few minutes before placing the steam basket on top.

Jim

The cooks over at the Cooking Forum (some of whom are you) have a thread currently on beans. Click the link below.

I will create a link in the other direction as well.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Bean Cuisine

Large, dried limas are one of my favorite soul food or Southern dishes. The ingredients are simple. You don't need an elaborate recipe. The goodness comes from the method. I believe those who don't like limas have had ones which were poorly prepared. That could be unappetizing. Done right they are delicate and comforting.

I start by making stock with the ham hocks and onion. Ham hocks provide collagen and flavor, the elements of a good stock. The stock is cooked a long time (That's how I write a recipe. Precision is everything). Then I remove the tasty meat bits which will remain in the pot and discard the rest.

The soaked beans (I use the quick soak method due to my inability to plan ahead) are then simmered gently in the broth. The object is to get them to the consistency of firm butter or a ripe avocado while retaining their shape and not popping out of their skins, and have a gravy-like sauce. You can't be careless and achieve that. It depends on cooking time, amount of stock and a special technique. The special technique is to remove some beans when they have become soft enough and mash them. Add them back as as thickener. Good beans can be made without doing this, but it takes extra skill and a little luck. Even this technique requires some judgement. I wonder, would it spoil the fun if I worked out an accurate recipe?

Keep some watering simmering in case you need to add more. Don't use cold water.

Season toward the beginning with red pepper flakes (to bring out the flavor) and toward the end with salt (which is not supposed to be added to beans at the start).

I think the collagen in the stock develops better after a period of chilling, but I always serve this right away and there is not much left to experiment with.

These are detailed instructions, which may make it sound like a lot of work, but it's not. It just requires attention and care to make them at their best.

Jim

The barbecue place here in town sells their rib tips in one pound packages for two bucks. I put them in a pot, a little water for steam, toss in several big handsful of green beans, and steam till beans are done. I do the same thing with kale.

Man, this was NOT the thread to read before lunch--LOL!!!!!

The only beans I grow are Insuks Wang Kong and I like to let them soak overnight and cook them in a Rice Cooker with Rice. On my plate I add a little ground Red Pepper and Soy Sauce.
Jim

Now that I've found out how low the standard American diet is in fiber and how increasing fiber can prevent diabetes, lower cholesterol and help you lose weight, I'll be cooking alot more beans.... I don't grow beans to dry because I don't have the space so with 1 bag (1 lb.) of purchased dry beans, soaked overnight and simmered until tender (around 2 hrs. for Sangre de Toro or Santa Maria Pinquitos but just about any beans would work just take care not to boil or overcook them) I make Puerto Rican beans (very yummy):

1)Saute until tender in a couple tablespoons of oil: 1 yellow or white onion minced, several cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 C chopped cilantro and some minced chile (I use a 1 tablespoon each of Peruvian chili paste Aji Amarillo and Panca but use your creativity - Aji Dulce is traditional (if you can find it or grow it), when using hot chilis adjust the amount of heat to your liking or use bell pepper - red would be better than green).

2) Add the drained, cooked beans, a big can of chopped tomatoes with the juice and one or two cubed potatoes.
Simmmer until the potatoes are tender (adding a little water if necessary), maybe 30 minutes or so.

3) Season with salt and black or white pepper and serve it forth (with rice of course).

No mention of the bestest ever old-fashioned way to cook green beans?

Place green beans, snapped into 2 inch pieces, into a sauce pan.
Pour in enough milk to just cover beans.
Add a teaspoon (or tablespoon) of butter or margarine and a dash of salt.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender.
Serve in bowls with big spoons - you'll need 'em ;).

OK, not the best thing for your cholesterol level or diet, but man, oh, man are they awesome!
When I was a kid, I couldn't wait for my grandmother to start harvesting beans because I knew it was beans in milk time. Ahhh, good memories.

I help cook dinner for 100 every Wednesday night at our church. Last year, we hit upon a great way to cook green beans, fresh or frozen. We actually have teenagers asking us when we're going to do green beans again!

Use a cookie sheet or a pan with not more than a one inch high edge around it.

Spray the pan with cooking spray. Pour the whole beans into a bowl and toss with enough olive oil to coat.

Spread the beans on the sprayed pan into a single layer.

Using a fairly heavy hand, season the beans with the following: 4 parts sea salt to 1 part black pepper and 1 part garlic powder.

Bake the beans in a 425 degree oven for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. The beans will just start to brown. They're also good with a little brown sugar sprinkled over them the last five minutes of cooking.

This is especially good with the frozen whole "Fine French Beans" sold at Sam's Club. They look and taste very suspiciously like Fortex to me.

This is from "The Book of New Israeli Food" by Janna Gur

BASIC HUMMUS DIP

Ingredients (serves 8-10)

1lb 2oz. small dry chickpeas
1Tblsp + 1/2 tsp baking soda
1cup raw top quality tahini
1Tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste

Directions

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in a large bowl of cold water with 1 Tblsp of baking soda.

2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and put them in a large pan. Add water until it reaches 1 inch above the chickpeas.
Add remaining 1/2 tsp of baking soda and bring to a boil. Cook covered over low heat for 2-3 hours, until the chickpeas are very soft. Cool slightly, drain and save some of the cooking liquid.

3. Put the chickpeas in a food processor, add 2/3 cup tahini and process until smooth. If the paste is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Season with lemon, garlic, and salt; taste and adjust the seasoning. For a richer creamier version, add the remaining tahini and process until the hummus is completely smooth and fluffy,

*****Galilee Style Hummus
Set aside 1 cup of chickpeas. Puree the rest with 1/2 cup tahini and the seasonings. Add the whole chickpeas and mix, slightly mashing the chickpeas. The texture should remain somewhat chunky.

I did my traditional smoking of Ribs, Fatty, and Pork loin roast for day after Christmas, while the ladies were shopping.

I cooked up some Vermont Cranberry beans as a side dish as follows:

BBQ Baked beans
Beans(dry)
Breakfast Sausage
Onion
garlic
Green Peppers
Ketchup
Mustard
Brown Sugar
Bacon

Soak the beans(drain), brown the Sausage, onions, garlic, green peppers and drain the fat. Mix in everything and layer bacon over top. Cover and bake or in my case smoke.

I generally do not follow a recipe so no measurements, sorry.

Easy and good.

Dean

For green beans, we like them steamed,still tender and never overlcooked, never icky store bought cans or frozen, with just a bit of seasoning. Very simple. A bit of butter. Maybe a little good apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar sometimes.
For dry beans, I have so many ways to cook them, they're a staple for us. Everything from chile con carne to hummus. We also love simple butter beans. ( large Limas) made with a bit of butter, boiled and served with salt and pepper, maybe a slice of bacon crumbled on top. We like all beans. Also, do split peas count? Traditional split pea soup is a favorite winter dinner.
I can dry beans so that we have plenty of easy to use beans that I can pop into chile, soups and other quick meals. So nice to have a quart of beans to throw into my chile without having to spend supermarket prices. I buy bulk dried beans and keep the pantry stocked with kidney, pinto, and black beans. Much less expensive, p,us much better tasting and lower sodium. Canning beans is really easy and so nice to have a pantry of beans.

deanriowa, that is my kind of recipe.
I can follow any recipe, but I like to add extra onions one time or mushrooms to see what it taste like.
Sometimes the dog will not even eat it:-(, sometime there none lift for the dog.:-)
Thanks,
jolj

Cowpea stew recipe

• 1 lb mild pork sausage
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 pound cowpeas
• 1 onion - diced
• 4 garlic cloves - minced
• Peppers - diced
• dried thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• dried parsley
• Salt and peppers to taste

Soak overnight cowpeas. Brown sausage, then add and sautee the onions, peppers and at end garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients and put in crock-pot on high for a couple of hours until the cowpeas are soft but not mushy.

That is my blend of a couple of cowpea recipes I found. It has turned out pretty good tasting to me. I add whatever type of sweet peppers I have on hand, then when serving I add minced hot peppers to my dish.

Dean

Wife has new Hummus recipe with roasted egg plant in it.

For a change of pace, try tossing the cooked green beans with a little toasted sesame oil, and maybe a few drops of soy sauce, before serving.

Steamed till tender crisp, a pat of butter and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, or steamed for a few minutes and then stir fried with shallots and mushrooms in a little olive oil.

Annette