Beans, a most humble food, get a bad rap as a “poor mans food”, which is totally underserved. Yes, they are cheap, and thank goodness for that. Lets keep it that way.
They also get a bad rap because they can wreak gastrointestinal havoc, i.e. cause gas, if they are not cooked properly. Unfortunately this stops people from cooking with them at home, because who has the time to cook beans when you’ve got a half hour to eat?
I’m not going to go into detail about all the advantages to eating beans, all the proteins, phytochemicals, and nutrients they have. If you are really interested you can google it. I’m just going to praise them because they taste good and they are a perfect winter food.
I still recall one of the many food conversations I had with my Cuban friend, in which she explained that one of her favorite foods were black beans. That’s interesting, I thought. It just would not have occurred to me to ever put black beans on the top of my list. But I had never tasted Cuban black beans! Or Brazilian feijoada!
The first secret to a great relationship with beans is to buy a PRESSURE COOKER. A pressure cooker is a pot that has a lid that seals and locks, and cooks on a regular gas stove. It’s easy and safe. By cooking your food under high pressure it dramatically reduces cooking time and saves fuel. Back in 1998, when I told my Cuban friend that we don’t use a pressure cooker, she looked at me like I was crazy. Its true, I was. My beans would sit on the stove for about an hour and often char to a crisp from forgetfulness. Another pot ruined. Cubans just don’t do this. They don’t have the beans, pots, and fuel to spare so they can be spaced out in the kitchen. If beans and rice are what they have, they are going to prepare them carefully, efficiently and deliciously. And their old pressure cooker looked like it was from the 1950's too, just like those beautiful but well-used cars that Cuba is famous for. Cooking pre-soaked beans in a pressure cooker takes about 10-15 minutes. Don’t ever think about buying those cans again. I pre-soak the beans (black, kidney, garbanzo) for about 8 hours while I am away at work. My favorite beans are KIDNEY beans, because the color is lovely, they hold their form, and they are flavorful on their own. All I add is salt, cumin, and a bay leaf. And they are perfect with a cooked green like collards or kale.
