2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
HOME & LIVING
TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2021
HEARTY
Continued from Page 1B
Natural gas-producing
sugars from the beans are
leached out into the water
and so it is best to get rid of
the liquid.
When cooking dried beans
with thicker skins, I also add
a pinch of baking soda to
soften them.
However I don’t presoak
the split yellow mung, brown
or orange-hued lentils and
don’t always soak black-eyed
peas either.
Once you have the beans
softened to your liking, use
them in any aspect of a meal.
When mashed, beans can be
made into dips like hummus
or become the backbone for
a burger patty. Refried beans
can add fl avorful weight to
burritos or be spread over
toast.
Rice dishes, pastas and
cassoulets are studded with
black-eyed peas, cannellini
beans, kidney beans and
black beans and so are salads
Green curry soup with black beans, broccoli, and bell peppers.
with pinto beans, chickpeas
and white beans. Even des-
serts embrace beans. Little
red ones often show up in
Malaysian shaved ice, Japa-
nese honeyed pancakes, moon
cakes and Chinese rice and
coconut puddings.
Then there are the soups,
which speak in global accents
and especially embraced
during these wicked cold
days. Beans are reliable team
players that remind you of
the Campbell jingle, “M’m!
M’m! Good!”
For many Italian-Ameri-
cans in Pittsburgh, you un-
derstand them better when
you understand greens and
beans. The one-pot favorite is
traditionally made with can-
nellini beans and the greens
vary from escarole to kale to
spinach to a blend.
Cannellini beans again
speak loud and clear in a
fasolada (Greek white bean
soup) without over dominat-
ing. A punchy green curry
soup with black beans is
Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
the kind of soup that makes
winter bearable. Red kidney Tortilla soup with red kidney beans.
beans add heft and texture
and drained, divided
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar brown, about 5 minutes, stir-
to a steaming bowl of tortilla
6
tablespoons
extra-
Black pepper to taste
ring occasionally.
soup.
virgin
olive
oil,
divided,
1/2
cup
chopped
fresh
Add garlic and red pepper
That’s why we say cool
plus
more
to
serve
fl
at-leaf
parsley
fl
akes
and stir until fragrant,
beans to winter soups.
1 large red onion, chopped
3 medium celery
stalks, chopped
3
medium
carrots, peeled
Don’t disregard the direc-
and
chopped
tion to mash 1 cup of can-
Kosher salt
nellini beans when making
this Greek white bean soup. 4 medium garlic
cloves, minced
The mashed beans not only
1/2
teaspoon red
thicken the soup but also give
pepper
fl akes
it a desired creamy texture.
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 quarts low-sodium
4 (15.5-ounce) cans
chicken broth
cannellini beans, rinsed
FASOLADA
Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
top with parsley, olives and
feta.
Makes 6 servings.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Have you been feeling a little cooped
lately up with all the crummy weather?
Me, too, and I’m guessing that’s why I’ve
been obsessed with adding fresh, leafy
greens to every meal for the past couple of
weeks.
Greens speak of spring, and spring in
turn means warmer weather. Also, don’t
we all need to eat more vegetables?
If you’d rather work fresh greens into a
cheesy entree, this easy pasta dish should
hit the spot. It features fresh spinach
mixed with a trio of Italian cheeses that
is then stuffed into oversized pasta shells,
with a generous amount of marinara on
top and bottom to make it saucy. It’s easy,
RED BEAN
TORTILLA SOUP
I used juicy Campari
tomatoes here because they
are naturally sweet, but any
juicy variety will work. To
add color, I cut spinach and
jalapeno-cheddar wraps into
strips and bake them to stand
in for the tortilla.
1 cup dried red kidney beans
Coarse kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large white onion,
thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh
cilantro, minced, plus
more for garnish
4 cups Campari
tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons
cayenne pepper
4 cups chicken or
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata
about 30 seconds.
vegetable broth
olives, chopped
Add the tomato paste and
2 large tortillas (spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled cook, stirring, until the paste
and jalapeno-cheddar)
begins to brown, about 2
cut into strips
minutes.
In a medium bowl, add 1
Diced avocado for garnish
Stir in the remaining canned Sour cream for garnish
cup of beans. Mash with a fork
beans
along with the mashed
or potato masher to a paste.
(optional)
beans.
Add chicken broth
In a large pot over medium
heat, add 3 tablespoons of the and bring to a simmer over
Soak kidney beans in water
oil and heat until shimmering. medium-high heat.
for about 5 hours. Change
Then reduce heat to medi-
Add onion, celery and car-
the water at least 3 or 4 times.
um-low,
cover pot and cook
rots and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Rinse the beans and drain the
Cook until vegetables begin to until carrots are just tender,
water. In a heavy pot, cook
about 20 minutes.
beans with 3 cups of water, a
Turn heat off and stir in vin- little salt and baking soda, over
egar. Then vigorously whisk in medium heat, uncovered, for
the remaining 3 tablespoons
20 minutes.
of oil.
In a heavy pot over medium
Season with salt and pepper heat, warm the oil. Add onion
to taste. Ladle into bowls and and saute until just tender. Add
nutritious and super fi lling.
I used a type of conchiglionio rigati
(Italian for seashell) from the Pennsyl-
vania Macaroni Co. in the Strip District.
The luxe Pastifi cio Di Martino brand is a
bit more expensive than the jumbo-sized
shells found in traditional grocery stores,
but worth it. I also took the shortcut of us-
ing jarred marinara sauce instead of mak-
ing my own, because I wanted dinner on
the table as fast and effi ciently as possible.
This recipe makes enough fi lling for
two small or one large pan of shells. For
an easy make-ahead-meal, stick one in
the freezer, wrapped tightly in plastic and
again with foil, for later.
Still running
unsupported
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We’ll help you
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issues by installing
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— Arthi Subramaniam
— Christopher Kimball’s Milk
Street Magazine (2018)
Getting greens into your
meals as spring approaches
Gretchen McKay
See Greens/Page 3B
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it was new?
Let us install
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garlic and cook for 1 minute,
stirring constantly. Add cilantro
and turn off heat and let the
aromatics cool in the pot for
about 10 minutes.
Add the aromatics and
tomatoes to a blender and
puree until smooth. Transfer
the mixture back to the pot,
over medium heat. Add cumin
and cayenne and stir well. Add
cooked beans and broth. Then
add salt to taste. Once the
soup comes to a boil, turn heat
down to medium-low. Cover
and cook for 25 minutes, stir-
ring occasionally. If the soup is
too thick, add more broth.
Meanwhile, preheat the
oven to 250 degrees. Line a
baking sheet with foil.
Place tortilla strips on the
sheet and spritz them with
cooking spray. Then sprinkle
some salt on top. Bake for
10 minutes or until the strips
are crisp, rotating the sheet
halfway through and stirring
occasionally. Remove from the
sheet and let tortilla strips cool.
Ladle soup into 6 bowls.
Garnish with tortilla strips, avo-
cado, cilantro and sour cream,
if desired..
Serves 6.
FAMILY
OWNED
GREEN CURRY SOUP
WITH BLACK BEANS
This soup has all the quali-
ties that distinguish a good
green curry: It’s creamy but
not overbearing, elegantly
fi ery and soothing.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large garlic cloves,
fi nely minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger,
peeled and fi nely minced
1 cup small broccoli fl orets
1 cup yellow bell pepper,
thinly sliced
1 cup orange bell pepper,
thinly sliced
1 can (13.5 ounces)
unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups water
2 1/2 tablespoons green
curry paste, store bought
Kosher salt to taste
2 cans (15.5 ounces) black
beans, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons freshly
squeezed lime juice
Cilantro for garnish, optional
Heat oil in a large saucepan.
Saute the garlic and ginger
until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the broccoli, yellow
and red pepper slices, coconut
milk, water and curry paste.
Add salt to taste. Stir together
and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low.
Stir in black beans and let it all
simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Add lime juice, stir and turn
the heat off. Garnish with cilan-
tro, if desired.
Serves 5.
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