Episode 1: Bean There, Done That (with Josh Malina)
Quarantine cooking is no joke—or is it? In our inaugural episode, Hrishi makes one too many puns, Samin answers the eternal bean question (to soak or not to soak), and Josh Malina (@JoshMalina) schools us in the art of the latke.
For a transcript of this episode click here.
Food ideas discussed in this episode:
(These are not recipes! The internet abounds with good recipes that can help you flesh out these tidbits. This is just a list of ideas you can turn to when you’re staring blankly into your pantry full of beans. )
Basic Beans
Soak beans in 3x their volume of water. Put a palm-full of salt and a large pinch of baking soda in the water. Soak 1 day for small beans, 2 days large beans or garbanzos. Then cook the beans right in the same water, adding spices and salt if you want. Bring the water to a boil, then simmer until they are soft. Are they done? Taste 5 beans! If any are still crunchy: keep going, keep going, keep going.
Hummus
Saute soaked chickpeas in a little oil or butter and a pinch of baking soda until they start to get golden brown on the outside. Then cook (see Basic Beans) until they are nice and soft. Puree. (Here's Samin’s favorite hummus recipe)
Warm Bean Salad
Add bean-cooking liquid to oil and vinegar for a nice, slurry vinaigrette to mix with cooked beans and whatever add-ins you like. (Here’s a lovely warm bean salad from J. Kenji López-Alt)
Ribollita
Google yourself up a ribollita recipe. The takeaway from this episode is that you can use your bean-cooking liquid to enrich this bread soup.
Bean Broth Breakfast
Yummy up your bean broth for breakfast by adding olive oil, herbs and a poached egg.
Frozen Pea Soup
Heat frozen peas (like, the whole bag) with chicken or vegetable stock. Puree with tahini. (Be careful when pureeing hot things - do only a small amount at a time or you will spend the rest of your quarantine cleaning pea soup off the ceiling.) Add herbs to taste, like cilantro or dill. You can make a drizzle for the top from tahini, chili flakes, garlic and cumin. (Here’s a spinach version of the recipe by Samin)
Frozen Vegetable Fried Rice
Make fried rice using some of your frozen vegetables, and put an egg on top.
Oven Roasted Frozen Vegetables
Toss frozen veggies with salt and olive oil. Roast in a really hot oven until they’re nice and brown.
Make a dal. It is outside the scope of this list to define what is a dal.
Start with a little bit of a ginger and garlic paste, using some finely grated or pounded ginger and garlic in equal quantities. Sizzle those in ghee, or if not ghee a neutral tasting oil or butter, until they get really aromatic. Add any spices that you like, like masala or berbere. Add legumes (most commonly lentils) and simmer till done. For topping, sizzle whole spices (fennel seeds, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds...) in hot fat for just a minute, then pour spiced oil directly onto dal.
Adas Polo (lentil rice)
Find a recipe for this crunchy Persian rice dish! Fried raisins recommended.
Warm Lentil Salad
Make a shalloty vinaigrette with sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, and a whole bunch of herbs. Toss with warmed whole cooked lentils. Add things like bits of bacon or lardons, thin-sliced red onion macerated in vinegar, or stale bread toasted with olive oil. Put a poached egg on top.
Hrishi’s Trader Joe’s Chip Dip
Mix a package of Trader Joe’s refrigerated black lentils with a jar of Trader Joe’s bruschetta topping. Eat with multigrain tortilla chips!
Beet Lentil Salad
Roast beets and toss with vinegar, olive oil and salt. Add cooked lentils and half a hard-boiled egg.
Samin’s (not) Fancy Dinner
Toast with Havarti, scrambled eggs, basil and chili crisp. Eat with a pile of asparagus (or whatever vegetable you have).
Hrishi’s Savory Oats
Cook steel-cut oats with vegetable stock and Beyond burger crumbles. Season with furikake, black pepper, and fresh herbs.
Fried Beans and Farro
Cook large beans and drain. Cook farro, or grain of your choice. Heat up a large pan really hot. Add oil and spices, e.g. cumin, chili flake, and salt. Stir fry until good and crispy. Add-in ideas: shredded chicken, sour cream, salsa, avocado, cilantro.
Go Soak Your Beans
You’ve spent a while in the kitchen now, you deserve a break. Go soak your beans!