I apologize if you’ve heard this from
me before, but I must once again
urge you to cook up a huge batch
of quinoa and keep it in your fridge
(or freezer!) for recipes all week.
It’s just such a healthful and versatile
ingredient, I find myself making it
more and more. It’s packed with
protein, full of fiber and vitamins,
and it’s gluten-free. It also happens
to pair splendidly with so many other
ingredients. So trust me and take the
few minutes needed to cook up a big
batch you can dig into all week.
Your handy stock of quinoa can be
used to boost nutrients in salads, be
added smoothies, get topped with
grilled veggies, tofu, fish or meat, be
spooned into soups instead of noodles
or rice, or get topped with sauces
(think tomato or cheese sauces). Or
you can just toss it with a little olive
oil, coconut oil or (my new favorite)
ghee and serve as a starchy side.
With school back in session, I’m
making a lot of quick breakfasts
that will fill up my kids’ tummies
for the whole morning. Enter the
quinoa breakfast bowl, which can
be easily customized according
to your family’s preferences.
The basics: Mix together cooked
quinoa with some milk, some flavoring
(vanilla, orange zest, coconut or
whatever), and heat in the microwave
until warm. Top with fruit, nuts
and maybe some yogurt, dried fruit
or a drizzle of maple syrup. Done.
Warm, filling, healthy breakfast
bowls that everyone will love.
Today I’m sharing a personal favorite
— the quinoa-pumpkin breakfast
bowl. The spices and aroma make
me feel positively autumnal, even if
my San Diego weather disagrees.
Until I went off to college
and became a vegetarian out of
financial necessity, beans really
weren’t a part of my life.
But once I found myself
pinching pennies while sharing
a house with three other women,
beans became a great and
affordable source of bulk and
protein. And though the initial
motivation was saving money,
we eventually grew to love the
unique flavors and textures of
beans, and I have continued to
cook with them ever since.
And the best way to make
beans? Starting with dried beans.
Why take the time to cook dried
beans when you can find a wide
variety of canned available?
There are several reasons.
Dried beans cooked from scratch
have a more uniform texture than
most canned beans (some of which
tend to get mushed in the can).
Also, you can control what gets
added to the beans (particularly
salt). And they cost much less
than canned beans. A 16-ounce
bag of dried beans yields roughly
5 or 6 cups of cooked beans,
while a 15-ounce can of cooked
beans yields roughly 1 1/2 cups.
Finally, homemade beans freeze
beautifully, so why not make a
big batch on the weekend and use
it in recipes later in the week?
But there are a few
things to keep in mind
regarding dried beans.
Dried beans seem to last
forever on the shelf, but beware:
The older the bean, the longer
it will take to cook. So try to
buy your beans from a store
that has plenty of turnover.
There has been a long debate
about whether to soak beans
before cooking them. The main
reason for the pre-soak is to speed
up the cooking time. And a pre-
soak does indeed do that, by about
30 minutes. But Cook’s Illustrated
magazine has uncovered an even
better reason. If you soak beans
in salted water overnight, they
not only absorb some of the
salt (which seasons them), they
also come out more tender. For
years we were all told that salt
made beans tough, but it’s quite
the contrary. So I recommend
a pre-soak in salted water.
Acid of any kind, however —
tomatoes, citrus, vinegar, wine,
etc. — is the enemy. It will prevent
the beans from cooking properly.
If you want to add a touch of acid
to your beans, add it only when
the cooking is nearly done.
The basics for cooking almost
all dried beans (except dried
lentils and split peas, which
cook so quickly you can make
them from start to finish in
about 20 minutes) are below. I
won’t offer exact cooking times
because the timing can vary
widely depending on the variety
and size of the beans, as well
as how fresh they are. I have
offered cooking methods using
both stovetop and a slow cooker.
Whichever you choose, save the
cooking liquid. It is delicious
added to soups and stews.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
FLAVORS
2C
Mastering the easy art of cooking
dried beans from scratch
BY SARA MOULTON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Master recipe for cooking dried beans
Start to finish: 13 to 15 hours
(15 minutes active)
Servings: 10
1 pound dried beans
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons
kosher salt, divided
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, cut crosswise into 4 pieces
1 celery stalk, cut crosswise into 4 pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Sort through the beans to pick out
any random stones or sticks among
them, then rinse and drain the beans.
In a large bowl or pot, dissolve 3
tablespoons of the salt in 4 quarts of
water. Add the beans, stir, then cover and
soak overnight at room temperature.
The next day, drain the beans and rinse
them. In a large saucepan or stockpot,
combine the beans with 7 cups of cold water.
Stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Bring
the mixture to a boil, skimming the scum
that rises to the surface with a skimmer or
slotted spoon (that scum is protein solids).
Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer
the beans, regularly skimming the scum,
until no more scum rises to the surface.
Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and
thyme, then simmer for 30 to 60 minutes,
or until the beans are just tender. Drain
the beans, reserving the cooking liquid (if
desired) and discard the onion, carrot, celery
and thyme stalks. Use the beans in recipes
or freeze them in 1- or 2-cup portions.
Slow cooker method
Soak the beans as described above, then
drain and rinse them. In a slow cooker,
combine the beans with the 2 teaspoons of
salt, onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme.
Add enough water to cover the beans by
1 inch, then cover and cook on high for 4
to 6 hours, or until completely tender.
Top left clockwise, mung, adzuki,
cranberry, Jacob cattle, scarlet
runner, Christmas pole butter
bean, and orca dried beans.
MATTHEW MEAD/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Easy breakfast bowls are another reason to cook up quinoa
BY MELISSA D’ARABIAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Quinoa-pumpkin
breakfast bowl
Start to finish: 10 minutes
Servings: 1
3/4 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla
almond milk (or other milk)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
Dash of pumpkin spice (or
cinnamon and nutmeg)
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 banana, sliced
2 tablespoons low-fat
plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped
almonds (or other nut)
In a microwave-safe serving
bowl, mix together the quinoa,
almond milk, pumpkin puree,
pumpkin spice and maple
syrup. Heat in the microwave
on high until very warm, 1 to
2 minutes. Stir, then top with
banana, yogurt and nuts.
Nutrition information per
serving: 330 calories; 60
calories from fat (18 percent
of total calories); 7 g fat (1 g
saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0
mg cholesterol; 70 mg sodium;
57 g carbohydrate; 8 g fiber;
19 g sugar; 11 g protein.
Quinoa pumpkin breakfast bowl.
MATTHEW MEAD/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A simple Cuban marinade can
add big punch to easy oven fries
Most of the foods we
eat — even among those
of us for whom eating is a
career — pass our lips and
leave not even a fleeting
memory. Most foods.
But then there are
those that linger not
just on our tongues, but
in our minds. Perhaps
by association of a time
or place or person, or
simply by the power of
their own deliciousness.
Somehow these foods
take on another life for us.
Over the years, a hand-
ful of such foods have
entered my life. My great
grandmother’s rustic
pork pate. My mother’s
spanakopita. The sun-
flower seed risotto I ate
at a small restaurant in
Copenhagen last spring.
The sinfully rich liver-
wurst spread thickly
on sourdough that was
my afterschool snack
(paired with chocolate
milk!) when I lived in
Germany as a child.
And there is mojo
sauce. The first time
I tasted it was during
Hurricane Katrina, which
had forced an extended
stay in Key West. We ate
dinner at a dive where
the meal itself was forget-
table. But plopped onto
the table was a basket of
fried plantain chips and
a bowl of mojo sauce for
dipping. It was orange
and slightly chunky and
flecked with green.
I had no idea what it
was, but as soon as I tried
it I couldn’t stop eating
it. It was sweet and sour
and tangy and refreshing
with just a tiny hint of
heat. It was similar to a
salsa, but so much more
refreshing. The waitress
explained that it was a
Cuban-style mojo, for
there actually are numer-
ous mojo sauces from dif-
ferent parts of the world.
Cuban mojo gener-
ally consists of minced
garlic, onion and pars-
ley that are mixed with
sour orange juice, lime
juice, olive oil and a hit
of cumin. Traditionally,
it is used to marinate
pork or for dipping chips,
such as plantains.
I wrote down the list
BY J.M. HIRSCH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mojo sauce
with paprika potatoes
Sour orange juice is available
online and at many ethnic markets.
If you can’t find it, substitute regular
orange juice, but add 2 tablespoons
of lemon juice and reduce the orange
juice by 2 tablespoons. The recipe
makes extra mojo sauce, and you’ll
be happy for it. Refrigerate the extra,
then drizzle over grilled or roasted
meat (especially pork) or vegetables.
Start to finish: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Mojo sauce with
roasted paprika
potatoes.
MATTHEW MEAD/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
6 medium russet
potatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons
smoked paprika
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour
orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons
lemon juice
1/2 small yellow onion,
coarsely chopped
1/4 cup loosely
packed fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon
ground cumin
Heat the oven to
400 F. Line a baking
sheet with foil.
Cut each potato in half lengthwise,
then cut each half lengthwise into
about 5 wedges. Mound the wedges
on the prepared baking sheet, then
drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons
of oil. Toss to coat evenly.
In a small bowl, mix together about
2 teaspoons salt, the paprika and 1
teaspoon of pepper. Sprinkle this evenly
over the potato wedges, toss to coat
evenly, then spread the potatoes in a
single layer on the baking sheet. Bake
the potato wedges for 40 minutes,
turning the wedges halfway through.
Meanwhile, prepare the mojo sauce.
In a blender, combine 1/2 cup of olive
oil, sour orange juice, lime juice, lemon
juice, onion, parsley, garlic, sugar and
cumin. Pulse on and off for 30 seconds
to 1 minute, or until the onion and
parsley are very finely chopped, but
not pureed. Taste, then season with
salt and pepper, pulsing again to mix.
Serve the potato wedges with
the mojo sauce on the side.
Nutrition information per serving:
230 calories; 140 calories from
fat (61 percent of total calories);
16 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans
fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 540 mg
sodium; 23 g carbohydrate; 3 g
fiber; 4 g sugar; 3 g protein.
of ingredients, but never
made it. Until now. I
found the card on which
I’d scribbled the recipe
and remembered that
flavor. While plantain
chips don’t necessarily
excite me, this sauce did.
So I decided to recreate it,
but this time pair it with
something big and bold
— roasted potato wedges
dusted with paprika. It’s
a perfect combination.
