Sometimes more is better
And rice noodles with black beans and mushrooms
I have been wanting to talk about my new favorite cookbook for awhile but I couldn’t because I hadn’t used it yet. I knew it would be my favorite. Why? All of the recipes have beans as the main ingredient, silly. My thoughtful niece gave me this thoughtful gift for Christmas. Thank you, Miss Olivia Grace. It's funny, I buy cookbooks all the time to give to others but I never buy them for myself. I knew about this cookbook but for some reason had not purchased or even taken it out of the library which made this present all the more special once I opened it.
Since that day, I cannot tell you how many times I have picked it up and started reading, from the back, of course, only to have to put it down because somehow I was interrupted. Hmm… The other reason I have not yet made a recipe is I am waiting for my first quarter Rancho Gordo Bean Club box to arrive. Each time the box is filled with six surprise bags of the most incredible heirloom beans which I polish off in about two weeks. I kept thinking the first quarter box would be delivered in January so I waited. Finally, I was sick of all of the excuses, aren’t you? I decided to make a recipe and I am so glad I did. It was delicious!!
Cool Beans by Joe Yonan, the Food and Dining editor at the Washington Post, was published in February of 2020. It is advertised on the cover of the book as, “The ultimate guide to cooking with the world’s most versatile plant-based protein.” I couldn’t agree more. The cookbook is dedicated entirely to cooking beans, legumes and lentils in multiple ways. Here, more is better. Even my best vegetarian and plant based cookbooks fall short with the number of bean recipes they provide. Cool Beans is set up in sections of what we want to cook: dips & snacks; salads; soups, stews & soupy sides; you see where I am going. There is also a lovely and thorough section on your pantry, the beans you can store in it, along with herbs, spices and other ingredients that will uplevel your cooking with beans. Finally, he shares where you can source your beans and spices if you would like to adventure outside of your supermarket. I recognized a couple of his suggestions but I caught myself grinning like a crazy person when I realized there were so many more sources of which I did not know. It was like Christmas all over again.
Since 2017 I have eaten more and more beans in my plant-centric eating style. For the last two years I have eaten beans daily for at least two meals if not three. They’re part of my DNA and I have plenty of ways to prepare beans for delicious meals. If I had my perfect cookbook it would be to merge Joe Yonan’s evangelical take on beans and lentils with Abra Berens multiple variations to prepare a recipe to our tastes. Then I would have 125 bean recipes with variations. Enough for a year without repeating.
Abra is equally generous in Grist for sharing her sources for legumes and grains in the back of her cookbook. Additionally, Joe’s love for Rancho Gordo in the introduction of his book underscores that my unapologetic love for Rancho Gordo’s beans above all other beans is normal. Waiting to get into their bean club–also normal. As I make more recipes I will share how they came out and in the meantime you may want to go to your library to check it out or purchase Cool Beans or Grist yourself. You will not be disappointed. And so you are aware, I am not an affiliate. I recommend who I appreciate and who I use in my kitchen. Cheers and remember, Start with Beans!
Recommended Recipe
Rice noodles with black beans, mushrooms and baby bokchoy
2 servings with leftovers or 3 servings no leftovers
Last week I changed my recipe at the last second because of the stormy weather outside to black bean soup. I ended up making another whole batch of black beans this week and while I have eaten alot of black beans I have not once felt like I was selling myself short on taste or getting bored. There are so many ways to eat them. Remember too, we get our magnesium, fiber and protein from our bowls of black beans. With this in mind I decided to find my next recipe in this book. I had just eaten black beans, with cumin, oregano, brown rice, shoshito peppers and garlic so I wanted something with a different flavor profile. Well I found it on page 159.
Joe says this is a riff on a riff. I think Joe and I would get along well; he is my kind of cook because if you read this blog often you know I riff daily due to ingredients I have in my kitchen at the time. I wish I had everything needed to make this recipe as it was written but I did not. I will share the ingredients from the Cool Beans recipe with notes on what I added/deleted based upon my kitchen inventory and my pallet. I encourage you to do the same. I was definitely inspired by Joe’s recipe on page 159 and the result was delicious. Once you get all of the ingredients prepped it is a fast moving recipe and you will be eating in no time.
Ingredients
I had two packages of thick rice noodles both 7.5 oz each. Joe’s recipe calls for 12 oz. for 3-4 servings. Since it was only Michael and me I decided to use one pack of rice noodles and adjust the other ingredients accordingly, not exactly.
1 package thick rice noodles (7.5 oz)
1 cup of reserved cooking liquid from the rice noodles
2 tablespoons avocado oil or other neutral oil-I used 1.5 Tbsp
8 oz of mushrooms (I had RI mushroom-chef mix a blend of shiitake, golden oyster, king trumpet and beech, but you can use all shiitake or even crimini since they are very easy to find in your local market) Stems discarded and sliced into decent size, about 1/2 inch; keeps the shape when sauteing. I used all of these because I love mushrooms.
1 1/2 cup black beans–I cooked my beans and include the liquid from cooking. If you are using a can (15 oz, it equals about a cup and a half) Joe instructs us to rinse the beans. For my tastebuds, I kept the pot likker and most of it was evaporated but the depth of flavor was infused in the pan.
a bunch of baby bok choy rinsed and sliced in half vertically. (optional: I added these because I saw them at the farmer’s market and knew they would be delicious with the mushrooms.)
3 scallions (instead of 4) thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves (instead of 4) chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (instead of 1/2)
1/3 - 1/2 cup of mirin (Japanese rice wine) (I used close to 1/2 cup as stated.)
2-3 Tbsp black bean garlic sauce (I did not have this—another reason why I used my black bean liquid even though not the same thing)
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce (I did not have this-I did add a tsp of red miso and a smidge of harissa-my harissa is so hot I did not want to ruin the flavor profile)
1 Tbsp low sodium tamari (kept as is)
1 1/2 Tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar because I had seasoned rice vinegar and no white vinegar!) (instead of 2 Tbsp)
1/2 English cake cut into matchsticks—used 1 mini cucumber.
Bring a pot of at least 1 liter of water to a boil. Add the noodles. Cook according to your package instructions for al dente. My directions had me add the noodles and turn off the heat for 5 minutes for al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. (I reserved more (2 cups) because sometimes when I am adding extra ingredients- veggies, etc, I need more sauce/liquid. Drain the rest of the noodles and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Keep the noodles in the colander while you prepare the rest.
Add the oil into a 12 inch skillet or wok over medium-high heat. About 2 minutes in, add the mushrooms and cook until softened and browning~6-8 minutes.
Stir in the beans (with or without their liquid as you choose) and cook for 1 minute just to heat through. If you added the liquid you can stir for another minute or two until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the 3/4 of the scallions, all of the garlic, and red pepper flakes and allow that to bloom another 30 seconds. Stir in the mirin and cook until just evaporated.
Stir in the reserved water, the black bean sauce, the hoisin, (this is where I added the miso) and tamari. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and reduced slightly~4-5 minutes.
(Add the baby bok choy about two minutes into the 4-5 minute cooking time. Stir and incorporate into the beans.) Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar.
Add the drained noodles to the skillet and use tongs to toss and coat them with the sauce.
Divide the noodles among two serving bowls, scoop in the beans, mushrooms, bok choy and some extra sauce. Sprinkle the remaining scallions and the matchstick cucumbers over the top of the bowl.
Enjoy!
Contact
If you have any questions on Joe Yonan’s Cool Beans cookbook or integrating beans consistently for gut health now and into the near future, please email me at Denisemancieri1@gmail.com. Feel free to comment below if there are topics you would like to see.
Please share this newsletter with others if you find it may assist them in adding beans to their diet. Or click the heart, below left, so I know you were here. Thank you!
Note: I am not a doctor. I am a teacher and an educator with an earned doctorate in educational leadership. I enjoy research and I can distill large amounts of information into easily understood and digestible pieces allowing people to understand what is happening to their body and possible steps to reverse it with food as medicine. I have healed my own GI issues through choices with food. I followed Karen Hurd’s bean protocol diet, I meditated and still do and I healed. I feel compelled to be in service and educate others as the more people eating beans, alongside a healthy diet and sharing their stories the more people will live a healthier existence. Joy, peace and freedom abound. Please see your doctor and discuss nutritional options before you change any course of action with your health.