Three Tasty Legume Recipes

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I was really excited when Nicole announced the challenge for this month - I love beans! We usually eat them 6 days out of 7. Besides their versatility and general tastiness, one of the things I find most fascinating about beans is the sheer variety - there are over 10,000 different kinds of legumes - which means you could eat a different one every day for over 27 years! (Provided of course that you could track them all down.) This post contains three recipes that we’ve eaten so far this week, featuring pintos, chickpeas, and french lentils. I’ve listed adaptations for both dry and canned beans - although I recommend using dry.

Friuli-Style Rice and Pinto Beans
This is one of my go-to recipes for days when I just want to cook one dish, it goes great with just about any veggie, or you can just shred some greens and throw them in 5-10 minutes before the rice is done.

• 1 cup dried pintos (or cranberry beans) – If you’re using canned beans 1 can
• 3 oz pancetta (Veg*ns – ¼ cup chopped and pitted kalamata olives)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 rib celery or ½ cup diced celeriac
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 medium waxy potatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups broth (chicken or veggie)
• ¾ cup Arborio rice (can substitute Japanese sushi rice if necessary)
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan

1. If using dried beans, soak for at least 8 hours, drain and rinse.
2. Finely chop the pancetta, onion, and celery/celeriac. (Veg*ns – just omit the pancetta for the moment)
3. Heat the olive oil in a heavy 6 qt pan, add the veggie mixture and cook for about 3 minutes until the veggies begin to soften.
4. Add the beans, bay leaves, broth, and potatoes, raise the heat and bring to a boil.
5. When the broth begins to boil lower the heat to a simmer and simmer for 40 minutes (if dry beans) or 10 minutes (if canned beans).
6. Add the rice and cook, stirring very frequently, until the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes).
7. Remove the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper (add kalamata olives if using).
8. Serve with Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4
Adapted from Fagioli the Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett

Spiced Lentils
This is a big favorite at our house and is tasty either warm or cold.

• 1 ½ cup puy lentils
• 7 oz feta cheese
• 5 T tomato paste
• ¼ cup chopped parsley, chopped

1. Place lentils in a 4 qt saucepan with 2 ½ cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook for 20 minutes until lentils are tender but not at all mushy. Drain any extra water.
2. Crumble half of the feta into the pan, add the tomato paste and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix to combine and heat through for 2 minutes.
3. Serve sprinkled with the rest of the feta. Serve immediately.
Serves 2 – 4 as a side dish
Adapted from Four Ingredient Cooking

Chipotle-Chickpea Spread
This is a new recipe for us - but it’s so yummy I had to share. This goes well with thick chips like tortilla or pita, veggies, and I think it could make a good sandwich spread as well.

• 2 cups dried chickpeas (or 2 cans canned chickpeas)
• 2-4 canned chipotle peppers (depending on your preferred level of spice)
• 1 T adobo sauce (from can of chipotle peppers)
• 1/8 c lime juice (or from ½ of a lime)
• Salt
• 1/8 – ¼ c olive oil

1. If using dried chickpeas: Soak for at least 8 hours, then cover with several inches of water in a large sauce pan, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 – 60 minutes until you can smoosh a chickpea with the back of a spoon fairly easily.
2. If using canned chickpeas: Drain and rinse.
3. Combine all ingredients in a food process and process until blended.
Adapted from the Shakesville Gourmet