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1
1
3
3
4
4
½ cups dry red beans
0 ounces (285 g) corn kernels, fresh or frozen
ounces (85 g) (half of a medium) green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
ounces (85 g) (half of a medium) red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
ounces (110 g) celery (2 ribs), sliced
ounces (110 g ) red onion, thinly sliced
Dressing
1
tablespoon cumin
½
6
cup olive oil (or blend of vegetable and olive oil)
tablespoons wine vinegar (red or white)
1
2
2
¼ teaspoons salt
cloves garlic, finely minced
teaspoons red pepper flakes
¼
cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
Procedure
. Wash and cook the two types of beans separately, each in 4 cups of water and 2
1
teaspoons salt until tender but still slightly chewy, about 50 to 60 minutes if unsoaked, about 30
to 40 minutes if presoaked. Drain and cool in running cold water for a few minutes. Drain again,
shake all excess water off..
2. Mix beans in a large bowl with corn, bell peppers, celery and red onion.
3. Toast cumin in a small heavy frying pan over high heat for a few minutes until just
begins to smoke. Remove from heat and crush in mortar or grind in spice grinder.
. Mix oil, vinegar and salt and stir until the salt is dissolved. Add garlic, red pepper
flakes, cumin and cilantro and blend to a uniform mix.
. Pour dressing over the beans and vegetables, mix well and let stand several hours or
4
5
overnight in the refrigerator. Let salad warm to room temperature before serving.
Makes 4 pounds (1800 g) of salad, serves 8 to 12. Keeps well in the refrigerator for 5 to 6
days.
If you live in an area with very hard water, the beans may never cook to a soft and tender
stage. Calcium and magnesium, the salts which cause water to be hard, chemically react with
some components in the beans and retard the rehydration process. If you have this problem, use
bottled or softened water for cooking beans. Adding molasses to the beans keeps them from
softening, too, because it contains calcium.
Another important thing to pay attention to is acidity of the cooking liquid. Legumes
soften in a neutral cooking environment, and the process speeds up under alkaline conditions.
Baking soda (an alkali) accelerates cooking. So, should you add baking soda to speed up
cooking? Some people swear it also lessens the negative effects of beans in your digestive tract. I
tested the softening effect of the recommended 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of beans. It
shortened the cooking time by about 5 minutes. But for 5 minutes gain it is not worth it. Baking
soda actually destroys some of the nutrients (particularly vitamin B) and adversely affects flavor.
While alkalis speed up cooking a little, acids virtually halts it. In acid conditions beans
simply refuse to get soft. Here is what happens. The skin of the bean is a carbohydrate that is
play © erdosh 210
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