I try to incorporate more beans into my daily diet and this is one tasty way to do it!
Eat a cup’a beans a day
I’ve been reading more about the Blue Zones which are the zones around the world with the healthiest people. The people who are living longest without any disease. And I’ve learned that one common denominator that they all have is that they eat 1 cup of beans a day! Oh boy, that sounded like a lot of flatulence to me! Every time I have eaten beans, I just get lots of flatulence so I stay away from them. But I’ve learned how to cook them to decrease flatulence and I now eat them every day and my tummy is happier for it.
Soak your beans first
I buy the beans either from a bin or in a bag, the uncooked kind that is. I then lay them out on a light colored plate or dish to remove any small stones, debris, or any damaged beans. Then put them beans in a large bowl of water and swish around and discard any beans that float to the top. Place beans in a strainer and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Add 4 cups of water to 1 cup of black beans and soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse again before cooking.
If you buy canned, cooked, black beans, be sure to rinse them under cold running water. Most canned beans have not been soaked before cooking so that is why you get more flatulence due to the high amounts of oligosaccharides which cause the indigestion. But rinsing really well will help eliminate some of those bad guys.
Let’s get you cooking!
Zesty Vegan Black Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
- 3 tomatoes, medium sized
- 1 avocado, sliced optional topping
- 1 bell pepper, chopped (red, yellow, orange) optional topping
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, mushrooms, celery, carrots, and garlic for about 5 minutes until soft. Then season with chili powder and cumin and cook for about 1 more minute.
- Pour in the vegetable broth, 2 cups of the black beans (or 1 can), and bring to a boil. While waiting for this to boil, blend in a blender the rest of the black beans and the tomatoes and blend until really smooth. (if the other beans start to boil before you are done blending, then turn the heat down)
- Then stir the blended bean mixture into the boiling bean mixture, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes. Now salt and pepper to taste!Top with the chopped pepper and avocado and enjoy!
