Name That Bean

They are a long, pinkish/reddish, pretty little thing. They always come out this time of year. They look like this:



I've been told they were Romano Beans, which makes sense since the bean inside is white and pink speckled like the beans on the can look like. Searching for "Fresh Romano" came up flat...literally. Romano beans are flat green beans. Hmmm...

Then when searching for beans in general, I found the Cranberry Bean. Aha! This makes sense. Not only are the pods lovely and pink but the bean inside is white with cranberry coloured specks.

Late summer is the season to find them fresh. If you see them at your local market, buy them! You won't be sorry. The bean is lovely and buttery and goes well in soups or stews. Unlike other fresh beans, this one takes only about 20-minutes to cook. Like any bean, they are high in fiber and are a great source of magnesium, potassium and zinc.

Cranberry Bean and Kale Stew

What you will need:
1 medium size onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
about 2 or 3 small potatoes (I used purple ones from my farmers market), chopped
one bunch of kale, washed and rougly chopped
1/2 can whole tomatoes
1/2 cup veggie stock or water
a good-sized bag of fresh Cranberry Beans
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 strip of kombu*

To prepare beans, take a knife and cut off the top part of the pod. Then run your finger down the side to expose the beans. They should just fall out.

In a medium pot, saute the onion, garlic and carrots for about 4-5 minutes or until fragrant. Then add potatoes and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Add cumin. Once boiling, add kale, beans and kombu. Turn heat down to a steady simmer and allow to cook for about 20-minutes. Stir every so often. If you find it is too thick, add more stock or tomato juice.

The beans should be cooked through at 20-minutes but feel free to let it simmer longer. I left it for about 35-minutes.



YUM!



* Kombu is a seaweed that helps to change the chemical makeup of beans, making them less gassy. It can be added to any bean while cooking and removed at the end. Try it!

Presto....it's PESTO!

Fall is in the air and that means local markets are filled with soooooo many fantastic things. This week, I came home from my local farmers market with a giant bag of basil.

On a chilly night, there was only one thing to do. Make pesto!!

Pesto is one of those things that seems pretty straight forward but making it with the wrong recipe and wrong proportions can go horribly wrong. I've had many a pesto that was too bitter, too garlicy or just plain bland.

So here we go....

What you need:
a bunch of fresh and freshly washed basil (by bunch, I mean bag...so like 10 or so small "bunches")



2 cloves garlic
two handfuls soaked almonds (*see note below)
about 3 or 4 good pours of olive oil
salt and pepper

In a food processor add:
the basil, garlic, almonds and pour in olive oil slowly until desired consistency is reached. I like my pesto a tad on the oily side so I can add it to pasta. Add salt and pepper to your liking and you're done. PRESTO!



You can also add a nice organic parmesan cheese if you wish. The ratio of pesto and cheese should be 50/50. So if you have a cup of pesto, mix it with a cup of cheese.

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH SOAKING ALMONDS?

Almonds are an almost perfect food. They are so good for you for so many reasons but they are actually not that easy to digest. The brown coating on almonds contains a substance that is enzyme inhibiting. Soaking almonds removes that inhibitor so almonds can be properly digested, enzymes and all.



To soak almonds always start with raw, organic almonds. To soak them, simply cover them with the purest water you have at your disposal. A glass or stainless steel bowl is best. Soak them overnight for 12 hours. Drain then and then refrigerate for easy access.