07: So many beans
A good problem to have, I've decided
Welcome to Home Cooking Diary, a newsletter on my journey as a home cook—the successes and failures alike. Part cooking log, part recipe recommender, and part chronicle of my thoughts as I feed myself and my family.
I’ve gradually found myself in a routine of simmering a pot of beans each week, and if you asked me for my top cooking/meal planning hack that’s what would come to mind. To have cooked beans on hand is to always have meal possibilities, no matter how sparse your fridge or pantry might feel. I found myself cooking beans more often after reading Mina Stone’s excellent Greek cookbook LEMON, LOVE & OLIVE OIL. My favorite recipe in the book—the one I make most often—is what she calls “Oven Chickpeas.” Mina says that she makes them at home every week, if not more often, and I found myself doing the same, copycat that I am. I can confirm that it’s an excellent idea. Chickpeas are one of the most adaptable legumes. I add them to pastas and salads; I eat them in a bowl by themselves with salt, pepper, and olive oil; and I could make hummus but pretty much never do because I prefer chickpeas whole. If I find myself wondering what to do with chicken thighs, I’ll make a version of Alison Roman’s sheet pan chicken, but with chickpeas and capers (or olives), or chickpeas and sungold tomatoes, instead of only the olives the recipe calls for.
In a pinch I’ll grab a large bowl, add greens (arugula or a spring mix), salt, and then spoon on a bunch of chickpeas before adding lemon juice and olive oil and pepper (and probably more salt too). I’ll finish it by dusting a generous amount of parmesan on top. This is an excellent lunch.
My weekly bean practice isn’t limited to chickpeas though. These days I usually take a look at the beans I have in the pantry and pick at random. Thanks to Rancho Gordo I always have tons of heirloom beans on hand. I mention RG often enough that I would love to be able to say that they pay me—otherwise it’s a little humiliating—but I won’t stop now, bean-themed newsletter that this is. I finally made it into their quarterly bean club after a long time on the waitlist (hurrah!), and as one might expect, we are swimming in beans. Every time a shipment arrives I marvel at how brief a quarter of a year feels, but honestly it is an appropriate amount of beans to have on hand in my opinion. I have seen some chatter online maligning Rancho Gordo for making beans“too trendy” and expensive. The former charge makes me laugh (also why is that bad?), and honestly these beautiful beans probably should cost what they cost ($6-$7 a bag). Farming! Tough business! That said, I also use dried Goya cranberry beans, black beans, and chickpeas from the grocery store all the time. They never disappoint.
There are many ways to start a pot of beans, but my favorite way is to put them in a Dutch oven, cover them with an inch or two of water, and add aromatics. Always at least one onion (sliced in half through the root), sometimes a head of garlic (sliced in half crosswise), carrots, celery, herbs, or any vegetable scraps I might have (fennel scraps are particularly wonderful). Sometimes a lemon cut in half. I often add a few dried chile de arbol. Lastly, I add a generous amount of salt (at least a teaspoon) and olive oil (a couple tablespoons at least), and a few bay leaves, and bring the pot to a boil. I let it go at a nice boil for about 10 minutes and then lower the heat to simmer for at least an hour and a half, perhaps longer if the beans aren’t done yet. I try to check the pot regularly to make sure that the beans are still covered (I usually need to add a cup of water here and there). Sometimes when the baby is napping (on me), I can’t monitor the beans, and the water has evaporated and the beans are a bit brown and sticking to the pot in places. They still turn out great! It’s hard to mess up beans, but trust me, you want that broth. I taste the beans to decide whether they are done. I read somewhere (I think Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal) that once you taste five beans that are perfectly cooked, the pot is ready.
I don’t soak my beans overnight (controversial, I know). Whenever I have the urge to make beans I simply want to make them at that moment—it’s not really something that I plan in advance, so I stopped soaking them overnight. They always come out great and don’t seem to take any longer to cook. I’ve decided that soaking is absolutely not necessary and I simply do not know why this fussy fake rule exists. Digestion? I never experience any digestive issues from eating beans that are not soaked in advance. Feel free to come at me if there is science behind this that I’m ignorant of!
Over the past few weeks I found myself improvising a lot of wonderful bean dishes with beans I cooked up in large batches. Beans also great for enhancing leftovers that might be on the sparse side. When I had a bunch of leftover farro on hand, I put some beans on top, along with sour cream. So satisfying. When I had an inconviently small amount of chili leftover—not enough for a full meal—I topped it with sour cream and a fried egg.
A perfect, simple meal is made up of beans alongside garlicky sautéed greens (spinach, swiss chard, escarole, etc) on the side. You can add a fried egg or a jammy egg, or no egg at all. The other day I had some white beans, and quickly sautéed several perilla leaves up in olive oil with sliced garlic. In a small skillet, I heated a tablespoon of the oil over medium heat, and dropped the freshly rinsed greens in, along with the garlic, and immediately salted generously. If necessary it’s good to add a couple flicks of water to the pan while constantly tossing/coating the greens in the oil. Once they cooked down, I added a pinch of chili flakes. I tossed them in the bowl with the beans and drizzle everything with olive oil and more salt and pepper. I sometimes drizzle a bit of vinegar as well.
Lately, my favorite has been the Royal Corona Bean. I made Lukas Volger’s Smoky Bean Confit with them (which totally rocked my world). Inspired, I played around with a spin on that recipe by adding the last of my Pomodoro sauce to the beans in a skillet, along with olive oil, smashed garlic, and paprika, and baked it in a 400 F oven for 30ish minutes. After spooning the beans into a bowl I garnished them with lots of good dried oregano. The following day I did more or less the same thing except I cracked two eggs on top before putting the pan in the oven. I pulled the pan out once the eggs were done.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless when you have beans—and I didn’t even discuss soups! Quickly: a few of my favorite bean soup recipes are Marcella Hazan’s Cannelini Bean, Parsley, & Garlic Soup, the aforementioned Rancho Gordo Chili sin Carne, and Alison Roman’s Dilly Bean Stew with Frizzled Onions.
I don’t have any recommendations this week. In truth, I didn’t do much except hang out with my baby, cook, watch Game of Thrones on mute with subtitles while my baby slept on me (I already recommended that!), and…I hate to say it…scrolled my dang phone. Happy home cooking, friends! More from me next week.
xo
I grew black beans in the garden last year and that experience has TOTALLY changed the way I think about bean farming. I had about ten mature plants and got maybe half a bowl of beans from them! Seriously hard work.