Indian Spiced Cranberry Beans
"This is from the book "Heirloom Beans". One of the aurthors, Vanessa Barrington, belongs to my food co-op and teaches classes on cooking with beans. If you don't have a good, local source for heirloom beans you can find and order wonderful ones from ranchogordo.com. This recipe is delish but was lighter on the seasonings than we like. I will double the seasonings next time but I have posted the recipe as written. I served this over brown rice with a spicy cilantro chutney and a side veg. Delish! Cook time below does not reflect the time it takes to cook beans."
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 1⁄2 lb cooked cranberry beans (see note at the end of the recipe)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1⁄2 yellow onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 1⁄2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cardamom pods, crushed
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed, lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon coriander seed, lightly crushed
- 1 serrano chili, sliced
- 3 plum tomatoes, chopped and drained
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- chopped cilantro, for garnish
directions
- In a soup pot over medium heat, gently warm the beans and their broth.
- In a small, heavy skillet over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
- Raise heat to medium-high, add the cardamom, cumin, fennel, corriander, chile, and tomatoes, and cook , stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the spice mixture to the beans, season to taste with with salt and pepper.
- Served garnished with chopped cilantro (optional).
- Note:.To cook beans you have 2 options: you can throw them in a crockpot (I usually cook mine this way but with at least double the amount of beans), cover with water by about 2 inches and cook on low all day. Or, soak beans over night in water to cover, rinse, add new water and boil on the stove for about two hours or until soft. Never add salt or acids (such as tomatoes) while cooking beans- it makes them very hard to cook. That includes most stocks! Add the flavors and salt at the end.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>I live with my hubby and three feline children in Oakland by Lake Merritt. <br /> <br /> <br />My rating system: <br />5 stars if the recipe works without having to make changes (my own subs just for personal preference do not count) <br />*New Rule: If hubby says "mmmm" or "this is good" without me asking if he likes it, it automatically gets five stars <br />4 stars if the recipe needs a minimal amount of changing because the recipe does not work the way it was written or if overall it just didn't WOW me. <br />3 stars and below if the recipe just does not work or if the instructions are not written clearly enough to make it. <br /> <br />Please know that I will change your recipe to fit my diet. I mean no disrespect, but since I have to diet I have to do it. I refuse to limit myself to recipes that already fit my diet and like the challenge of changing already existing recipes to be healthier. I will leave out the oil, leave out or replace the cheese and milk with a non-dairy alternative, and use whole grains. I will also leave out meat and broth and choose vegetarian, low sodium versions/alternatives. I still rate recipes that I make these changes to. <br /> <br />But, if I use a recipe as inspiration only- meaning I got a great idea from it but changed it all around- I generally will not give any stars but will put a little note stating what I did. I love to give credit where credit is due. <br /> <br />I don't deduct stars if I personally do not like an ingredient in the recipe. I don't make recipes that I think that I won't like, which is why you will probably notice that most of my ratings are pretty high. I think it is silly that people choose to make recipes that include ingredients that they don't like then rate them poorly saying "I don't care for..." Anyway, you get the idea. <br /> <br />I've participated in <br /> <br /><img src="http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap1/group04cherry.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> <br /><img src="http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap1/group09okra.jpg" alt="" /> <br /><img src="http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap2/group02banana.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> <br /><img src="http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/mliss29/vegnswap2/group12starfruit.jpg" alt="" /></p>
