Bean Recipe

Beans are a staple of our food habits. Oliver usually makes one big pot, once a week, and we'll eat it as lunch or a dinner side everyday. It's cheap, it's very healthy, it's delicious and it's filling. A big bowl of beans never leaves me hungry. The following is Oliver's "recipe" for black or pinto beans. The measurements are more "guesstimates". You can top them with Greek yogurt, siracha, cheese or whatever fits your mood.

What you'll need:

2 onions, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp cumin, toasted and ground
1 Tbsp coriander, toasted and ground
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 large can or 2 small cans of stewed tomatoes, undrained
4 cups stock
1 lime or some vinegar (cider or pepper)
salt/pepper/cayenne/Worcestershire/ hot sauce
1 pound of beans (give or take)
Some fat, generally olive oil

Soak the beans for 8 to 12 hours to cut some time off of the cooking.  After soaking, some people say to drain the water for the sake of flatulence. Some say not to drain for the sake of vitamins. I drain for the sake of flavor.  Why cook in water when you can cook in stock?

What to do: In a large pot, saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander and chili powder and heat until aromatic.  Add the stewed tomatoes and cook down to a mush.  Add the beans and stock and enough water to cover everything by an inch or so. Add some salt*, pepper, and cayenne to taste and bring to a boil for ten minutes. Cut the heat to a simmer**, cover and cook for an hour or two stirring regularly and adding more water and adjusting seasonings as needed.  Beans are done when they tell you, not when a timer beeps. Add lime juice or vinegar, Worcestershire and hot sauce in the last few minutes.  Coll them and eat them three days later, that’s when they are best.

*Salting makes beans tough is a myth.  Acid however does slow things down.  That’s why they go in at the end.
**The more vigorous the cooking the more the beans will break up.  If you prefer your beans to be less like beans and more of a mush you can crank up the boil.