What makes a meal feel like a meal? In a restaurant, an entrée dish might look like this: protein + grain + vegetable. Usually, it’s built around an animal protein of some kind. Sometimes there’s a starch instead of a grain, like potatoes. Vegetables are extremely optional nowadays…
There’s a concept I’ve been learning about called the Three Sisters, the “Holy Trinity” of some indigenous food cultures in the Americas. The three sisters are: Beans, Squash, and Corn. You can learn more about this here! And here’s a cool podcast about Native American food in general.
But it got me thinking that lots of cultures’ cuisines are based around these same three categories: beans or legumes, veggies and grains (corn being the grain of the Three Sisters). Meat simply wasn’t always available. The Three Sisters provide a balanced dish of complete nutrition and – importantly – feel like a satisfying meal.
Thinking broadly (and not intending to flatten or diminish the great diversity of the world’s cuisines), isn’t hummus and vegetables stuffed into a pita kind of the same thing? What about Dal Tadka with basmati rice and a side of bitter melon? What about soy sauce (fermented soybeans!), rice, and seaweed?? I know, it’s a stretch, but sushi is also a Three Sisters food!!
Lots of cultures have beans in their diets - Italians eat cicerchia; in Spain it’s espinacas con garbanzos. Hell, even the English have beans on toast, and mushy peas (peas have more in common with lentils than with vegetables, and THUS, THEY ARE BASICALLY BEANS). And of course there’s arroz con frijoles, moros y cristianos, habichuelas guisadas, and many more combinations of rice+beans from Latin and South America and the Caribbean.
ANYWAY. Beans should be part of your diet, regardless of whether or not you serve them with animal protein. But they’re great because you don’t have to. Especially when they’re paired with a grain and a veg. DINNER=COMPLETE.
Here’s a traditional recipe from The Sioux Chef founder Sean Sherman for tepary beans, hominy and squash (a version of the Three Sisters). But you don’t need a recipe…
Have you ever made beans from scratch? I’m sure most of you are saying no… why bother? But let me try and convince you: dried beans are a foundational tool for making vegetarian and vegan meals that taste amazing, will fill you up, are cost effective and have a hugely positive impact on the environment. They can literally SAVE THE WORLD.
START HERE
I highly recommend ordering good quality heirloom beans. Trust me, I don’t know why, but they just taste better. They don’t cost much more than grocery store beans, and you’re investing in flavor from the beginning. You’re also supporting people who are growing better stuff, in a sustainable way. If you are skipping the meat, the price evens out – the other ingredients are super cheap. My guide below assumes you’ve bought fancy beans, but feel free to email me if you really really want to try this with a bag of supermarket Goyas (it will take longer and results may vary).
WHITE BEANS
About once or twice a week, I like to make a pot of beans. I use about 1 pound dried. I like white beans (any type) because I think they are the most versatile to use in other recipes throughout the week. Kind of like the way you would use canned beans, one portion at a time (but these will taste a million times better).
A weekend is probably better for this, but hey, if you’re still working from home, why not make it your Tuesday project?
Every pot is different. The more you do this, the easier it gets. There will be some trial and error… but “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” - Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott.
LET’S DO THIS.
In the morning, rinse the beans, put them in a pot to soak with enough water that they are covered by about 2 inches. You’ll use the same pot later to cook them, so make sure it has a lid. You can salt the water like you would for pasta, but you don’t have to. The beans will soak up the water and get bigger. If they soak it all up, add more. They might look wrinkly after soaking. They might not all look the same. IT’S ALL OK!
About 5 or 6 hours later (or overnight!), rinse/drain them again, return to the pot with water covering 2 inches again, add an onion that’s been cut in half and a bay leaf. You can put whole cloves of garlic if you want. You don’t need to peel anything, you’re going to fish it all out later. The garlic might dissolve into the broth, which is fine!
Bring the beans to a boil. Let them boil about 10 mins (this is important to make them digestible). Then turn the heat down, so they are simmering gently. Put the lid on so all the water doesn’t evaporate.
Let them cook for a while (about an hour and a half, two hours, maybe). When they’re a bit softer, salt the shit out of them (1.5 tsp or more). Taste them after an hour and a half or so. If they taste done, THEY ARE NOT DONE. They are probably 25 mins away. They’ll become edible, but still taste starchy. Let them go longer, and eventually they will taste creamy and fall apart in your mouth, but still have a slightly chewy skin. Even now, THEY ARE PROBABLY NOT DONE. Taste 5 in a row from different parts of the pot. If they all taste amazing, then they are done (repeat that to yourself out loud). Remove the onion/bay leaf and anything else you added for flavor (fancy people call these aromatics).
If you take your beans off the stove and then find that a lot of them are still undercooked, no big deal! Put them back on a simmer and cook until done. SO EASY.
A note: if you leave the lid off while they are cooling down, the water will still evaporate! You should store these beans in the fridge, covered in broth, so just add some water on top if you need to, once you divide them up. They’ll keep about a week in the fridge.
BONUS - Beans freeze really well! Portion them out, make sure there’s liquid to cover (super important), and freeze them for as long as a few months. Defrost on the counter, in the microwave, in a pot, WHATEVER, and use them like they’re brand new.
PS, follow these exact steps with dried chickpeas! Or any other type of beans!!!
WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THESE FREAKING BEANS
*Waits excitedly for next issue of the Part Time Vegan*
What I’m reading
The Bittman Project - another substack that totally is copying me (JK, the guy wrote about cooking for the NY Times for over a decade and has written 20 books).
<<Could you manage with 10 percent less meat per year? Yes, and probably without noticing. Twenty percent? Perhaps that would cause you a minor inconvenience. That’s an excellent place to start.>>
Ligaya Mishan about Asian grocery stores in the US, in the NY Times.
Jiayang Fan on The Disgusting Food Museum, and who gets to decide what foods are “disgusting,” for the New Yorker.
This response to Ezra Klein, who apparently thinks the Impossible Burger people invented vegetarianism -