Quarantine Beans

By Caroline Gauthier

It’s time to get creative with our cooking, along with everything else! Below you’ll find a recipe for cooking black beans (or any beans, for that matter) from scratch. Cooking from scratch has several advantages over the canned variety: it has zero preservatives, it’s economical, and most of all, it tastes WAY better. Try it and be converted!

I make a batch of black beans once a week and have them on hand in the fridge to make a variety of dishes. They’re great to add to your favourite Chili (see below), chipotle bowls, or Tex Mex burritos. Below I’ve included my InstaPot go-to recipe. The nice thing about an InstaPot is you literally have a ready made batch of beans in 1 hour, start to finish.

If you don’t have an InstaPot, no problem! You can make this recipe on your stove top. If you would like to soak the beans overnight, this helps with digestibility, but does not reduce cook time. Simply add all your ingredients to the pot. The amount of stock in this case may differ but should cover the beans by 3-4 inches. Slowly simmer the beans until tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

InstaPot Black Beans

• 2 cups chicken broth
  3 cups water 1 lb dry black beans (roughly 2 cups) 1 onion, chopped
  3 cloves of garlic, skin on
  1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
  1 Tbsp olive oil
  1/4 tsp pepper
  2 tbsp vinegar
  2 tbsp brown sugar
  1 tsp oregano
  1/2 tsp cumin
  pinch cayenne
  juice of 1 lime

1. Combine all ingredients except for lime juice in pressure cooker

2. Cover and seal. Set to pressure cook on high for 50 minutes

3. Once done, remove the lid and add lime juice

Vegetarian Chili

The nice thing about this Chili is that you can work with what you’ve got in the pantry. No worries if you don’t have tofu... simply omit. If you have green or red peppers, you can add those instead of, or as well.

Simply put, be creative! This is a guideline for a nutritious and tasty meal. Serve it alongside a plate of cheesy nachos or crusty bread to scoop up all this goodness.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. Olive oil
  1 yellow onion, diced
  3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  2 tbsp chili powder
  1 tbsp cumin
  1 tbsp brown sugar
  1 tsp salt
  1 tsp smoked paprika
  1/4 tsp cayenne powder

• 1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
  2-14 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (the fire roasted tomatoes give it a richer, deeper taste. If all you have is regular tomatoes use 2 cans of the 28 oz)
  4 cups InstaPot black beans or 2-19 oz cans of black beans (or whatever beans you have or of your choice, drained and rinsed)
  1 cup chicken stock
  1-2 tsp Tabasco sauce

• For the Tofu
  3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  1 tbsp soya or tamari sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium high heat

2. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 5-7 minutes

3. Add garlic, sauté for 1 minute

4. Add chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, salt, paprika, and cayenne. Stir mixing spices over heat for 1 minute

5. Add tomatoes, stock, Tabasco and beans

6. Bring to boil, reduce and simmer for 1 hour, stirring often

For the tofu

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Open and drain the tofu (no need to press your tofu to remove the water). With your hands, crumble the tofu the lined baking sheet into small crumbly pieces.

3. Sprinkle nutritional yeast, soya sauce, and olive oil over tofu. Mix evenly with your hands.

4. Bake for about 30 minutes or until browned, making sure to toss it every 10 minutes or so. You want it to be browned and a little crisp.

5. Once done add it to the chilli. Stir and allow the tofu absorb the flavours of the chili, about 20 minutes.

6. Serve with an optional dollop of plain Greek yogurt. Enjoy 🌶️