Beans: My Shape of Beef to Come

Mary Blocksma Been Through It A year and a half ago, I found a lump in my breast. The discovery was... Send Message Subscribe: Mary Blocksma

Monday, March 12, 2007
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In a January blog, influenced by two recent books—The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and What to Eat by Marian Nestle—I concluded that I might change the way I eat.

Well, I did. At first I simply cut down on red meat and poultry, but about a month ago, after I happened upon Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian at my public library, I quit cooking meat and poultry altogether. Jaffrey introduced me to the delectable, irresistible, cheap, easy, healthful, never-ending worlds of beans and rice. Then I found Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann, and I turned at-home vegetarian: I'll eat meat, but I won't cook it.

I'm doing this partly because it might be better for me than the way I used to eat (see Oprah's list of health benefits from beans), but mostly because I've been looking for a new way to play.

And this is fun. Consider trips to small but exotic Thai and Indian groceries, shelves stocked with canned, dried, fresh and frozen mysteries that will take me years to solve. And what could be more fun than mustard seeds popping in a pan, curry leaves steaming in basmati rice, or rose water and green cardamom pods filling the house with fragrance? It's world travel without cholesterol or pre-flight bag checks.

Mid-passion, however, I hit a snag: I was okay with canned beans if I rinsed them well, but had an explosive reaction to dried beans I cooked myself. After a black bean meal so delicious I couldn't stop eating it, I had to cancel my calendar for two days. (Even pricey Bean-O did not work for me.)

I scoured the Internet for solutions until I found a really effective one (I haven't yet tried this on lentils or split peas):

How I De-Gas Beans

1)    Pick the dried beans (say a cup) over for stones and weird-looking ones. Put    them in a sieve or colander and rinse well under running water.
2)    Put the beans in a bowl, cover with 5 inches of water, and let soak for 8 to 12 hours. Or more.
3)    Throw out the soaking water, rinse again, put in a 2-quart pot, and cover with more water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and let sit for 1 hour.
4)    Throw out THAT water, rinse again, and proceed with recipe, or cover with 3 inches of water and cook until tender (crock pot on high about 4 hours, stovetop 1-2 hours depending on the type and size of beans).

(For the real lowdown on beans, download the very useful pdf “How to Eat Beans Without Gas” by the Savvy Vegetarian.)

I've been on the no-meat-or-poultry kick for a month now, and so far the tasty adventures and post-meal satisfaction have left me untempted by my old ways. And guess what—the official new U.S. government Food Pyramid puts beef and beans in the same food group. Doncha love it?

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