{"id":1646,"date":"2013-01-06T16:31:12","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T16:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=1646"},"modified":"2017-11-08T16:09:33","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T16:09:33","slug":"even-more-about-getting-more-beans-into-your-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/even-more-about-getting-more-beans-into-your-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"Even More About Getting More Beans into Your Diet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong>Affordability<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Making Healthy Food Affordable\" href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/30\/making-healthy-food-affordable-the-direct-buying-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A couple recent posts<\/a> delved into affordability and how to make quality meat affordable.\u00a0 One solution to the high price of meat, of course, lies in making vegetarian meals once or twice each week (or more.)\u00a0 It&#8217;s no secret that beans are cheaper than meat, but they are also a good source of protein and substance, making them a good center-of-the-plate substitute.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong>Cooking Your Own Beans<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 278px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" src=\"http:\/\/i722.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww230\/mcolletterogers\/BeanJuice.jpg\" alt=\"Slow Cooker Beans\" width=\"288\" height=\"384\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hands-down, I recommend the slow cooker for cooking beans, like these pretty variegated beans from Monroe Organics. Be sure to save the juice for use like a broth (see suggestions in article.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For even greater affordability, cook your own beans.\u00a0 Then you can enjoy high-grade organic beans for just pennies per serving.\u00a0 And it&#8217;s easy. <a title=\"Contact\" href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/vegetable-a-month-club\/\">Contact us<\/a> for a reference sheet that you can keep handy in your cooking files.\u00a0 Alternatively, check out <a title=\"How to Cook Dried Beans\" href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/2008\/07\/07\/how-to-cook-dried-beans-stovetop-slow-cooker-pressure-cooker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a previous post on cooking beans<\/a>, and <a title=\"Accelerated Slow Cooker Beans\" href=\"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/2009\/09\/17\/accelerated-slow-cooker-beans\/\">one on an accelerated method<\/a>.\u00a0 I have found the slow cooker to be the best method for cooking dried beans; it eliminates many of the problems people associate with the operation.\u00a0 And if time is an issue, here&#8217;s some good news.\u00a0 Yesterday, I needed some beans quickly to take pictures for this series of blog posts, so I discovered an even faster, slow cooker method:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Super Accelerated Slow Cooker Beans&#8211;No Soaking Required<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Step 1: Boil for 5 Minutes<\/span>\u00a0 (In a large saucepan, combine 1-2 cups dried beans\u00a0 with about a quart of water.\u00a0 Bring to a boil for cook for 5 minutes.)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Step 2:\u00a0 Drain\u00a0<\/span> (Drain beans into a colander&#8211;but save the juices for watering plants&#8211;then put drained beans into the slow cooker)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Step 3:\u00a0 Boil More Water<\/span> (Fill the large saucepan with another quart of water and bring to a boil)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Step 4:\u00a0 Combine and Cook<\/span> (Pour the boiling water over beans waiting in the slow cooker.\u00a0 Cover and cook on HIGH heat until tender to your tastes&#8211;which can be a s little as 3 to 4 hours.\u00a0 Keep an eye on them as they cook more quickly than expected.)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Step 5:\u00a0 Add Salt<\/span> (Wait until beans are cooked to the desired tenderness then stir in 1\/4 to 1 tsp. good sea salt, to taste.)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Step 6:\u00a0 Eat and Enjoy<\/span> (Freshly cooked beans are good enough to serve as a side dish, on their own.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong>Cooking Classes Using Beans<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you want to learn more about cooking with beans, <a title=\"New Kitchen Cooking School Class Schedule\" href=\"http:\/\/everydaygoodeating.org\/nkcalendar-register.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">check out our classes <\/a>which very often include a bean dish or two.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #003300;\">Waste Not-Want Not:\u00a0\u00a0 Bean Juice<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking of affordability, there&#8217;s no need to throw out the liquid from cooking beans.\u00a0 Maximize food dollars, flavor and nutrition:\u00a0 Drain the juice into a jar.\u00a0 Refrigerate and use for cooking rice, thinning soups, cooking harder vegetables, deglazing pans or anywhere else that you&#8217;d use a broth.\u00a0 It keeps for several days, or freeze it in small portions for later use.<\/p>\n<p>Note:\u00a0 Higher quality beans will have better juice.\u00a0 For instance, Eden Organic beans are cooked with kombu, a sea vegetable that adds nutrients and reduces or eliminates the need for salt.\u00a0 Conversely, lower quality beans may be cooked with a lot of salt to mask a flavor deficit.\u00a0 In all dishes where you add bean juice , but especially those with higher sodium juice, be sure to taste before adding more salt.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong>Convenience and Freezing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>You certainly can&#8217;t beat beans&#8217; convenience.\u00a0 Just open a can and you&#8217;re ready to go!\u00a0 &#8220;But what if I can&#8217;t eat the whole can?&#8221; you might be wondering.\u00a0 Or what if you cook a batch of beans from scratch, which tends to make a lot!\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 Beans store in the frig for several days and extras can also be frozen in single serving sizes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More tips on money-saving, cooking dried beans in a super accelerated fashion, classes and using bean juice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,24,1,28],"tags":[38,61,62,171,307,413,527],"class_list":["post-1646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-cooking-basics","category-basic-healthy-cooking-techniques","category-uncategorized","category-waste-not-want-not","tag-affordability","tag-bean","tag-bean-juice","tag-dried-beans","tag-how-to-cook-dried-beans","tag-organic-foods","tag-slow-cooker","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2792,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions\/2792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}