very fast legume recipes
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eirias asked for quick--ideally, under 30 minutes including prep--recipes using beans (lentils, chickpeas, etc.). I have some ideas about the theory of this sort of cooking!First, if a bean dish doesn't taste as good as you expect it to, the fault is almost certainly that there is either too little acid or too little salt. You need more salt than you expect, especially if you are someone like me who prefers a fairly light hand with salt generally. If you have salt, acid, and perhaps some cracked black pepper, you really don't need any other spices, though of course they can be interesting.
Acid usually comes from lemon juice, vinegar, or tomatoes, though there are interesting variations (I used to really like a black bean soup recipe out of Fields of Greens that used orange juice, for example). The taste of vinegar and tomatoes will change and deepen after a little bit of cooking. For vinegar, just a minute or two will often be enough. If you're working with canned tomatoes--and with this tight a time restriction, you probably should be--you should allow more time. Canned tomatoes really need to simmer for a little while to taste good. You can try adding a spoonful of sugar and rushing the simmering if you're in a hurry, but it won't be as tasty.
To minimize simmering time, you should use either dry lentils, canned beans, or maybe pre-cooked beans, if you're the kind of person who likes prepping food on weekends. (I personally might allow myself an hour and make chickpeas in the pressure cooker, but I'm working with a different set of constraints, one of which is an irrational aversion to canned beans and another of which is a health concern that prioritizes chickpeas.)
Basic Lentil Soup With A Green Thing
Rinse a cup or a cup and a half of dry lentils. Cover with an inch or two of water, add a bay leaf, and bring to a simmer.
Chop a couple of cloves of garlic. Fry them in some olive oil. Once they are aromatic, add a can of chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer. (I would actually add the liquid from half a big can of plum tomatoes, chop half a can of plum tomatoes finely, and add them. I do this because I think pre-chopped canned tomatoes and pre-made tomato sauce both have weird textures. You probably don't care.)
Your green thing might be parsley, cilantro, fresh spinach, or frozen spinach. If it's not frozen, rinse and chop it now. You can use a lot of parsley or cilantro (maybe half a bunch).
Start tasting the lentils after twenty minutes. When they are cooked to your liking, pour off a bit of water if you like your soups on the stew side. Add a big pinch of salt. Mix the salt in, then dump the lentils and the remaining water in with the simmering tomatoes. Stir. Add frozen spinach now, if that's your green thing. Also add some pepper.
Let everything simmer together for five minutes. Taste it. If it's not salty enough, add salt; if the tomatoes taste sour (unlikely unless you rushed the tomato cooking time), add a teaspoonful of sugar; if it tastes unexpectedly bland, add a tablespoonful of lemon juice or vinegar and simmer for another minute. Scatter your green thing on top, if it's not already included.
Variations
- Just dump a can of chickpeas or other beans in with the tomatoes, rather than messing with lentils.
- Add grated ginger and/or chopped green onion with the garlic.
- More spices: a teaspoon of cinnamon, cumin, and/or coriander, half a teaspoon of powdered ginger, powdered cayenne to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon if you're cautious, 1/2-1 teaspoon if you're not).
- Or if you want more heat, just add a spoonful of sambal oelek with the garlic.
- I omitted onion because of the time constraint, but you can absolutely chop an onion and fry it in some oil, either prior to adding the garlic, or in a separate pan if prep time is more important to you than dishes.
- Use frozen kale or chard as your green thing (this will require a longer simmering time after the vegetables are added).
- Romaine lettuce is mostly green. Just saying.
- Does your garden have runaway mint? Strip the leaves and add big handfuls of mint!
- Use frozen corn kernels or cubes of cooked squash or pumpkin instead of a green thing.
- Add Moroccan-style salt-preserved lemon when you combine the beans and tomatoes.
- Make your own croutons! Preheat your oven to 400° F or so, chop some stale fancy bread into cubes, put it in a pan, drizzle it with oil, mix it around, and throw it in the oven until it gets crispy. This is especially good with chickpea soup. You can freeze the heels of loaves for just this purpose.
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I would probably make rice or toast on the side for an ordinary meal, muffins if I was feeding guests. You can add a salad, dessert, or something in the cheese plate/appetizer family if you need to stretch.
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I often find quantities vexing to judge because we're a household of three and Ara's appetite is wildly variable for anything that isn't sour Skittles or baguettes. ;) But that's not a recipe issue.
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My ideal quantity feeds two hungry people and leaves enough leftovers for me to pack lunch the next day. One of the things I like about my current job is that I can easily go buy lunch I like if I guess wrong.
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TL;DR: Canned beans + veggies that you previously cooked in bulk and then stored in the fridge + some jar sauce or pre-mixed seasoning + a minute or two in the microwave = about 5 - 10 min total prep time.
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Dinner this evening was Reason-compatible lentils, basmati rice, and separately steamed broccoli nearby. My lentil/rice pile had preserved lemon--very much agreed about the acid thing. Reason finds preserved lemon to be too much, though she's accepted baek kimchi ("white," the kind with no red pepper) sometimes.
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for those who do use canned beans
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