Kisses and hugs on Valentine's Day (or good food is love)

Recipes: Baby limas with ham, Roasted asparagus, Strawberries with sweets 'n sour cream

It's Valentine's Day, when you show extra love to your loved ones. To me extra love means special food, and possibly food presented in a special way. Some of the best Valentine's Day "feasts" I've ever had have been those designed to be served on a picnic blanket in front of a roaring fire in our own living room, and eaten at least partially with hands instead of utensils. This feels kind of elemental to me, and earthy. And loving. And fun.

There are many good foods that can be served and eaten this way - homemade burgers and oven fries, grilled little lamb chops with roasted new potatoes, or the following menu, heart-warming beans and ham (only a spoon required) with asparagus and beautiful red organic strawberries.

I usually use black beans for this recipe (canned is fine), but this time I "only" had dried baby limas. They were fabulous! Lima beans don't take long to cook, and frozen limas would work just as well. Here are both options, with cooking instructions for dried limas first. If you're using frozen, just start mid-way where it's indicated below.

Baby Limas with Ham

To cook dried lima beans: At least 2 1/2 hours before you plan to serve them, take one cup of dried baby limas and put them in a pot with water to cover by one inch. Bring that to a boil and boil them for one minute. Then turn the heat off and let them sit at least one hour. Drain the water off the beans and put fresh water in to cover by an inch. Bring that to a boil and while you're cooking everything else, let it simmer with the top askew. By the time you put them in with the other ingredients, they will almost tender.  If you were cooking other dried beans, except for blackeyed peas, you would have to cook them longer.

If you're using frozen beans, start here...

• 2 slices bacon, diced
• olive oil
• 1 medium or 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper or other moderately hot pepper, chopped fine
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Sea salt
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 14-ounce can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• A bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 package frozen baby lima beans (unless you're using cooked dried beans)
• 1/2 cup cooked ham, chopped into pieces
• 1 cup brown basmati rice

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

 

In a large ovenproof pot, fry the diced bacon until a little crisp. Take the cooked bacon out, leaving the fat behind, and put it on paper towels to drain. Add a little squirt of olive oil to the bacon fat.

 

In the fat, cook the onion, the peppers, the cumin, and a couple of good pinches of sea salt for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent.

 

Add the chopped garlic, the oregano, and the tomatoes. Cook that for a couple of minutes, mixing it well.

 

Add the water, the cooked and drained beans (or the frozen beans, slightly thawed so they're not in a block), the bay leaf, and the red pepper flakes.

 

Bring it to a boil, put the cover on, and bake it for one hour in the 350 degree oven. After an hour,  uncover it, add the ham and bake it for 30 minutes more.

 

While the beans are cooking, make the rice. Bring two cups water to a boil on the stove or in the microwave. Put 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil in a small pot over medium heat. When the fat is hot, add the rice. Stir it so all the grains are covered, and cook until the rice smells toasty (one minute). Carefully add the water (it will boil up) and cook for a minute or two until it's bubbling well, then turn down the heat and cover the pot. Cook over low heat for 40 minutes. When it is done, let it sit with the cover on until the beans and ham are finished cooking.

 

Serve the beans in a wide soup bowl over a half-cup mound of the rice. You can top it with raw chopped onion and chopped cilantro, if you like, or with the roasted asparagus.

 

Roasted Asparagus

Buy fat asparagus if you can find it. Cut or break off the woody ends (about 2 inches off the "bottom") and carefully remove the outer skin of the lower half of each stalk with a vegetable peeler. It works best to lay the whole stalk in your palm as you peel with the other hand to keep it from breaking. This is the hardest part.

Then toss the stalks gently with a tablespoon of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Lay them out in one layer in a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet and roast along with the beans for about 25 minutes. You can do this any time during the bean-cooking process, as the asparagus doesn't need to stay hot for serving. It's good at room temperature.

When the asparagus is cooked (it should still have some crispness, so shouldn't be completely limp), sprinkle a little balsamic vinegar over it. Serve over the beans and rice, or along the side. It's perfectly OK to pick up the stalks and eat them with your hands. It's perfectly OK to scoop up some beans with your asparagus. You know. Yum.

Strawberries with Sweets 'n Sour Cream

Valentine's Day just seems to demand sweets, but do they have to be bad for you? NO! Here's a gorgeous treat that you'll both love, and it won't add pounds or too much sugar either. What it does add is color and sensuous beauty, plus it's easy to eat with your hands. Hands were invented before forks (an Ethiopian saying, I'm told), remember that. Provide lovely cloth napkins.

Arrange whole organic washed strawberries around a beautiful plate. In the center place two small bowls, one containing organic brown sugar and the other containing sour cream.

To eat, pick a strawberry up by its stem or leaves and dip it in the sour cream. Then dip it in the brown sugar and put it in your mouth, biting off the stem/leaves. Heaven.

The Payoff
Lima beans help balance blood sugar and high levels of soluble fiber help lower cholesterol. They are heart healthy, a lovely attribute for a Valentine's Day love feast.
Asparagus is low-calorie, high in folates, which help your heart and may ward off Alzheimer's, and in potassium and antioxidants.
Strawberries are low-calorie and very high in Vitamin C, a good thing since it's still cold and flu season. Besides they're so delicious.

This entire meal is gluten-free.

Happy Valentine's Day!! Show your love!

 

 

Beans 'n Greens (or keeping it soulful)

Recipes: Spicy beans 'n wilted greens, Beets and avocado salad

There's something soulful about stews in the winter. Even if it's not cold where you are, but especially if it is, a steaming bowl of stew warms like nothing else and feeds the homebody in us. Even better, the house smells wonderful. A long time ago, I had a cooking friend whom I traded dinners with - once a month our families ate together, switching from his home to mine and back every other month. For fun we called his home The Seaview Grill (he lived on a street named Seaview) and mine The Beans 'n Greens Cafe. I love to cook good wholesome country food, and that's what beans and greens are.

This dish calls for dried beans, which should be soaked in water overnight and then cooked in fresh water for 3 or 4 hours the next day. This takes longer than most things we make in this blog 'kitchen', but it is well worth it. Of course, canned beans could be used but the taste and texture would not be at all the same. Here are some ways to manage the time needed to make this dish fabulous.

1. The beans can be soaked and cooked up to three days in advance, for instance on a Saturday-Sunday when you're just hanging around anyway. The soaking and cooking are both "hands-free" in that you don't have to do anything but occasionally give it a stir (in the case of the cooking) and make sure the pot doesn't cook dry. When they are tender, cool the beans in their liquid, cover, and store the whole thing in the fridge until you need it. When you are ready to finish it, warm it gently and then add the greens as indicated in the recipe below. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.

2. The beans can be soaked overnight and then cooked in a slow cooker or crockpot while you are at work. Add 1/2 cup more water than the recipe calls for and bring the beans to a simmer in a stove-top pot before pouring them into the slow cooker in the morning. Set the cooker to low and they will be done when you get home. You can then ladle them back into your stove-top pot and proceed with adding the greens as indicated in the recipe.

3. The entire dish, including greens, can be made in advance when you have time, cooled, and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Gently reheat it before serving. Like most stews, this one benefits from some resting time. Flavors deepen and meld. Mmmm.

4. If you have forgotten to soak the beans overnight but still have enough hours to cook them on the day you want to serve them, you can use this emergency substitute for soaking. It's supposedly not "as good", but I've used it many times and I'm not sure I see a difference. Put the beans in a pot with water to cover plus 1 inch. Bring it to a boil on the stove and boil for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let sit for 1 hour. You're ready to go and can follow the recipe below for cooking.

Spicy Beans 'n Wilted Greens

Adapted from a recipe in the magazine Bon Appetit

• 1/2 pound (about 1 1/2 cups) dried chickpeas (garbanzos) or 1 cup dried white beans. I used chickpeas in the stew pictured above.
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 anchovy fillets, preferably packed in oil, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 medium or 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 piece Parmesan rind (don't skip this!), plus shaved Parmesan for serving
• 1 small bunch kale, washed, big stems removed, and coarsely chopped
• 1 small bunch chard, washed, big stems removed, and coarsely chopped (You can use other greens here. I used some sorrel with the kale and chard. You could also use mustard greens or spinach)
• 1 cup arugula (rocket)
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Rinse the dried beans and inspect them for small stones. Put them in a pot with water to cover plus one inch, cover the pot, and let soak overnight (or use the emergency method above). Once they are soaked, drain the remaining water off the beans.

Heat the oil in a medium to large Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the anchovies, chiles, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is soft and the anchovies are dissolved, about 4 minutes. Add the onion, celery, and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the Parmesan rind, the soaked beans, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed, until the beans are tender and beginning to fall apart, 3 to 4 hours. The length of time needed to cook depends on the age and freshness of the dried beans. It's helpful if your time is a little flexible.

Lightly crush some beans to give the stew a creamy consistency, and remove the Parmesan rind. Mix in your greens and half of the arugula. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the greens are wilted, about 8 minutes.

In a separate bowl, toss the remaining arugula with a few drops of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a bit of salt and pepper. Serve the stew in bowls, topped with the arugula and shaved Parmesan.

You might like something cool and savory with the richness of the soup. Since there is an abundance of greens in the stew, a salad of beets and avocado provides a good contrast in color, taste, and texture.

 

Beets and Avocado Salad

Use canned beets, or roast beets while the beans are cooking as indicated below.

To roast beets: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut leaves and long tails off the beets, leaving one inch at both ends. Brush any dirt off the beets and wrap each one in aluminum foil. Put all in a baking dish with 1 inch of water in the bottom.  Roast in the oven for 1 hour. When they are tender, let them cool, unwrap them, and rub each one with a paper towel to remove the skin (this will be messy - wear an apron). Cut and toss with a little olive or walnut oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar while still warm.

 

To compose the salad, lay a few crisp lettuce leaves on a plate. Top with beets and avocado halves filled with balsamic vinegar. Grind a bit of black pepper over it all. Enjoy with your wonderful soulful stew.

 

The Payoff

Low in fat and high in fiber and protein, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are a superfood!

Greens are right up there with chickpeas - low in calories and fat, high in protein and fiber. You are going to be gorgeous, dahlink!

Beets help keep your blood pressure low and your heart healthy. Yay beets!

 

The beans 'n greens and the beet and avocado salad are both gluten-free.

You can make the beans 'n greens vegetarian by eliminating the anchovies.

 

Buon appetito!