Beans

Right around when my second son was born, the Sierra Club magazine ran a recipe that sounded delicious: red lentils cooked with "fire-roasted" tomatoes, wild rice, a bunch of shittake mushrooms, and red wine, cooked until creamy and full of flavor: http://www.food.com/recipe/shiitake-lentil-pressure-cooker-soup-276160 .

The problems with the original recipe were small but numerous, including how it made way more than indicated, and overflowed my cooker!

I have been trying to add nutritious and delicious sources of high-quality starch to our diet. Dosas fit the bill, and they are also fermented. Plus, they are really delicious, especially when fried in lots of ghee!

3 c. white rice
1 c. red lentils
1/4 c. fenugreek seeds

Soak this overnight in water to cover; drain and rinse, and add just enough water to be able to blend till smooth (immersion blender works fine).

Natto is traditionally an Acquired Taste--a stringy, stinky, almost moldy-looking ferment cultured with soybeans. I've heard that in Japan, it's eaten for breakfast with some raw egg yolks over rice.

Since soy is not something I'm super keen on eating much of, these days, I've tried natto-ifying various other beans, including black turtle and lentils. These produce natto that is milder than the soy version, but I'm hoping that the spores still manage to produce lots of Vit. K, etc.

We hadn't eaten beans since we started GAPS a year and a half ago, and this was my first experiment. It started as a recipe for "Tarhana," which is a Turkish soup made from a fermented dough. I used red lentils for the dough, and fermented it until it was quite sour. Then, with a little water added to thin it, I poured it into a hot cast-iron pan with LOTS of fat. The resulting "dosas" were incredibly tasty...a bit of a cross-cultural fusion!

This can feed about 100 people, if you serve a few other dishes as well (works well with a pasta salad and a veggie salad).

16 oz. (1 bottle) balsamic vinegar
2 heads of garlic, cloves peeled and minced or pressed
Salt and Pepper to taste

3 bunches of broccoli
2 red peppers, seeded and diced
1 medium green cabbage, chopped finely and blanched
1 medium red cabbage, chopped finely and blanched
2 large bunches parsley, minced
1 large bunch basil, minced

This recipe is based on the one by Cooks Illustrated; it produces a creamy, delicious, "restaurant style" hummus that is unlike the usual grainy dip that often emerges from the home food processor. I'm using canned beans here to illustrate quantities, but I usually make my own and don't measure so precisely--it's the technique that matters most, and adding enough salt, and not adding too much garlic. ;)

--2 small garlic cloves
--1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 large or 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
3 T red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
2 15-oz. cans chickpeas, drained
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly milled black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the shallots, vinegar, garlic, and salt.
Set aside for 10 minutes to allow the shallots and garlic to mellow.

Adapted from "A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen," a fantastic cookbook by Jack Bishop.

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cinnamon stick, about 4 inches long
1 bay leaf
10 whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds

1 medium onion, minced

3 medium garlic cloevs, minced
1 tbsp. minced ginger root
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground turmeric

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (or equivalent fresh or frozen)

This soup is infinitely variable and adjustable. In fact, the only rule is that you can only make it the same way once.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion
1/2 head green cabbage, cut up small
3 celery stalks or a celeriac
3 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes

1 potato
2 carrots

28-oz can tomatoes, plus some tomato paste or dried tomatoes
2-4 cups cooked beans
1/4 cup dried basil
2 tbsp. dried oregano
pinch of fennel
2 bay leaves

Makes about 9 cups

Another total favorite from "Laurel's Kitchen," by Laurel Robertson et al.

1 1/2 cup black beans
6 cups water

1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. oil
2 cloves garlic
2 celery stalks
1 potato
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. savory
2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

1 lemon, juiced

Wash the beans and put them in a saucepan along with the water. Cover loosely, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or so, until the beans are quite tender.